Since the inception of VGC 2016, the top threats in the metagame have proven themselves time and time again: Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, and Xerneas. Sometimes Dialga, Palkia, Ho-oh, and Yveltal join their ranks. One Pokemon, however, is practically never seen, but it has caught my attention for awhile: Lugia. I used Calm Mind Cresselia extensively in 2015, and I wanted to try something similar for 2016, and since Lugia is bulkier, harder-hitting, and faster than Cresselia (along with being one of my favourite legends), it seemed like a natural choice. Much to my surprise, it actually worked pretty well, propelling me to a rating of 1609 on Showdown; nothing spectacular by any means, but still a personal best. I especially like the team because, while most VGC 2016 games are essentially who makes the right call at team preview, this team has a few very safe options to lead with, so matches are decided more on who plays better in the battle itself.
Team at a glance
Teambuilding process
As previously mentioned, the team is built around Calm Mind Lugia.
I wanted something that could remove Lugia's counters and generate a few free turns for it to set up. In 2015, that was the supremely anti-metagame Scarf Mamoswine. This year, the role goes to the single hardest hitter in the game: Choice Band Mega Rayquaza. Rayquaza also provides Delta Stream support for Lugia to remove its weaknesses, which is very nice.
Despite Lugia's massive bulk, there are quite a few Pokemon in the metagame that hit hard enough to smash through it. I wanted something that could soften the hits, so I turned to Screens Klefki. It turned out to work very well.
At this point, I had the main core built; now I needed 3 more members to cover threats and provide a bit of offensive pressure since Klefki is a pure supporter and Lugia doesn't hit that hard until it sets up. Landorus-T was a natural pick since it softens blows with Intimidate and can spam Earthquake alongside Lugia or Rayquaza.
As much as I hate Smeargle's shenanigans, it actually works pretty well on this team just because of how many free turns it buys. It can Dark Void to let Lugia set up 2 or 3 free Calm Minds, or spam Follow Me while Rayquaza vapourizes everything with Dragon Ascent.
Honestly, I'm really unsure for the last slot. I stuck Raichu on to redirect Electric attacks from Lugia and Thunder Wave from Rayquaza and for a fast Fake Out, but it hasn't been useful as often as the other 5 team members.
In-depth
Killer Wall (Lugia) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Bold Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SAtk
-Calm Mind
-Recover
-Aeroblast
-Psyshock
Everybody has memories of playing Pokemon in the schoolyard. There were certain Pokemon that everyone worshipped; ones that, if you had one, you were automatically cool. For some it was Charizard or Mewtwo; for others, Arceus. For me, it was Lugia. Because it was only catchable in XD, a game that none of us had (I grew up with Gen III), it had almost become a myth. I have fond memories of the release of HGSS and the bittersweet feeling that, although I could now get a Lugia of my very own, it would never have the same "cool" factor.
Oh, right, this is an RMT. I guess I should write an actual description. The centerpoint of this team, Lugia is the great Guardian of the Seas that just. Never. Dies. Furthermore, it has a very nice base 110 Speed, so you can get the jump on slower Primal spreads and Calm Mind or Recover in their face. Lugia is really, really underrated in my opinion - it does need more support than, say, the Primals, but if you can set it up, it can take pretty much any attack. The EV spread guarantees the 2HKO on 4 HP / 0 Def Xerneas with +2 Psyshock, while dumping the rest into HP and Defense to improve physical bulk. Recover is the superior option to Roost because it doesn't remove Lugia's immunity to Ground moves, which is a nice thing to have with Primal Groudon everywhere. As far as attacking moves go, there are 4 viable options on a set like this: Aeroblast, Psychic, Psyshock, and Ice Beam. Aeroblast is a shoo-in, being a powerful, accurate STAB, especially since Flying is an excellent offensive type. I decided not to use Ice Beam for two reasons: first, it doesn't hit as hard on neutral targets as Psyshock, and I have other ways of hitting Salamence and Rayquaza. Second, with almost every team having either Xerneas or Primal Kyogre, both Pokemon with massive Special Defense, I wanted a way of hitting them on their weaker Physical defense.
C# Major (Klefki) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
Bold Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 SDef
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Safeguard
-Thunder Wave / Swagger / Crafty Shield
This adorable little key ring is Lugia's perfect partner in crime. It can set up screens to soften blows against it, as well as Safeguard to protect it from things like Thunder Wave, Toxic, and Dark Void. Klefki is especially useful because of what the norm for it is: because most people expect Swagger and Thunder Wave instead of Screens, they often go for something like Quick Guard, giving me a free turn to set up a screen. The EV spread makes Modest 252 SAtk POgre's Water Spout never OHKO through a Light Screen. The last move is dependent on how I'm feeling: Thunder Wave can cripple enemies that rely on their speed and can sometimes clutch out games; Swagger is really cheesy, but as a friend from the Premier Challenges I go to once said, "Swagger can get you from a losing position to a neutral one, from a neutral position to a winning one, and from a winning position to an indomitable one." It also buys more free turns for Lugia, and if I'm feeling especially evil, I can set up Safeguard and then Swagger my own Rayquaza. Crafty Shield is mostly useful for blocking opposing Pranksters such as Thundurus and Liepard, who give the team a bit of trouble otherwise.
Ray Rizzo (Rayquaza) @ Choice Band
Ability: Delta Stream
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Dragon Ascent
-Extreme Speed
-Earthquake
-Waterfall / Draco Meteor
I will open Rayquaza's description with a short story. I go to a lot of Premier Challenges. However, it just so happens that a lot of the top players in North America live in my area. Thus, our PCs are incredibly competitive. I distinctly remember one particular battle: I was using a pretty standard Groudon/Cresselia set-up-TR-and-Gravity-and-spam-Precipice-Blades team, and my opponent (who is unknown outside my area but frequently top cuts or wins our tournaments) tore apart my team with Banded Rayquaza. Initially, of course, I cried "cheap", but then I realized that if he can use it, so can I. It just so happened that my team needed an enforcer to take out the things that Lugia fears, and so I went with a Choice Band over the more common Life Orb or Focus Sash. The loss of Protect hurts sometimes, but the ability to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan, Primal Kyogre, Xerneas, and so many other big-name mons is just too good to pass up. Dragon Ascent is the move I use 90% of the time, for obvious reasons. Extreme Speed is nice for when I save Ray for the endgame to pick off weakened Pokemon. I don't use Earthquake too much, but the spread attack is really nice. The last move is a bit of a toss-up between whether I want to threaten Salamence or PDon: Waterfall OHKOs Groudon (and can catch it switching in if I decide not to Mega Evolve), while Draco Meteor beats Mega Salamence despite not having any investment. As much as I wish I could run Adamant for even more power, Jolly is pretty necessary for outspeeding base 110s.
Hovercat (Landorus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant Nature
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Knock Off
-Protect
After looking at the first 3 members of my team, I realized that the only Pokemon that hit hard right off the bat was Rayquaza, and it is vulnerable to being outplayed by Protect. I wanted something that could mindlessly deal damage to wear down opposing Pokemon. Something like, say, the most common Pokemon last year? Yeah. Landorus fits especially well onto this team because both of my restricted Pokemon are Flying-types, and are thus immune to Landorus's Earthquake spam. Rock Slide has actually become better this year in my opinion: because Thundurus is switching from bulky spreads to fast Sash sets, Rock Slide can do major damage to them (along with being my go-to option for Talonflame and having the same awful 90% accuracy and 30% Flinch). I went with a Life Orb set because I wanted to hit a bit harder while still being able to switch moves and use Protect (and besides, the Choice Band was already taken).
Dog Void (Smeargle) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Moody
Jolly Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
-Dark Void
-Fake Out
-Follow Me
-Spiky Shield
And now for everyone's favourite Pokemon!
...yeah. Smeargle. Everybody hates Smeargle, but that's because it just does its job of annoying the opponent so well. Smeargle pairs very well with both of my restricted Pokemon: Rayquaza because it can Dark Void slower, bulkier opponents and redirect away attacks while Rayquaza erases things from existence, and Lugia because of all of the free turns it generates. I'm honestly not sure what to say about the set; it's a carbon copy of the Big Six Smeargle, but that's because it works. I suppose, though, that although my first goal with this team is, of course, to win by any legal means necessary, my second goal is to spam Dark Void in tournaments to try to get it banned.
Pikachu 2.0 (Raichu) @ Zap Plate
Ability: Lightning Rod
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Fake Out
-Feint
-Encore
-Volt Tackle
Raichu has two roles on the team: First, provide a fast Fake Out and Encore to support Rayquaza and Lugia. Second, redirect Thunder Waves. This is a pretty standard Raichu set, but honestly, it hasn't been useful very often and the team works pretty well with 5 Pokemon. If anybody has suggestions for something else in place of it, I'm open to hear them.
Common leads
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Lugia + Klefki is my normal lead if the opponent has nothing to threaten it. The strategy is that I have Klefki set up whichever screen would be more useful turn 1 (for example, Light Screen if I'm against Kyogre) while having Lugia go for Calm Minds. Once Klefki goes down, I can bring in Rayquaza or Landorus and go on the offensive. The key point for using Lugia: Don't get greedy. Unless you have it out with Smeargle and both enemies are asleep, it is never necessary to have more than 2 or 3 Calm Minds.
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On the other hand, if I want to go on the offensive right away, I can lead Rayquaza and Smeargle, and then have Smeargle Fake Out and redirect everything away from Rayquaza while it goes for Dragon Ascent.
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Landorus pairs well with Rayquaza since it can spam Earthquake to complement Rayquaza's Dragon Ascents. Alternatively I can go for the double EQ spam, but obviously this is made less viable by the multitude of Flying-types in the metagame.
Threats
This team struggles quite a bit against Yveltal Dark-spam teams. Lugia simply cannot stand up to Yveltal's Dark attacks, and it OHKOs Rayquaza and Landorus with Foul Play. Its Dark Aura also boosts enemy Sucker Punches, which my team does not enjoy taking.
Intimidate from things like Salamence and Mawile weakens Rayquaza, greatly reducing its effectiveness.
Obviously, any time you're using a bulky booster like Cresselia or Lugia, you have to watch out for critical hits, so using this team can be a bit stressful at times.
Furthermore, because this team relies quite a bit on surprises (Banded Rayquaza, Screens Klefki, etc.), it performs much better in Bo1 play than in Bo3.
Team at a glance
Teambuilding process
As previously mentioned, the team is built around Calm Mind Lugia.
I wanted something that could remove Lugia's counters and generate a few free turns for it to set up. In 2015, that was the supremely anti-metagame Scarf Mamoswine. This year, the role goes to the single hardest hitter in the game: Choice Band Mega Rayquaza. Rayquaza also provides Delta Stream support for Lugia to remove its weaknesses, which is very nice.
Despite Lugia's massive bulk, there are quite a few Pokemon in the metagame that hit hard enough to smash through it. I wanted something that could soften the hits, so I turned to Screens Klefki. It turned out to work very well.
At this point, I had the main core built; now I needed 3 more members to cover threats and provide a bit of offensive pressure since Klefki is a pure supporter and Lugia doesn't hit that hard until it sets up. Landorus-T was a natural pick since it softens blows with Intimidate and can spam Earthquake alongside Lugia or Rayquaza.
As much as I hate Smeargle's shenanigans, it actually works pretty well on this team just because of how many free turns it buys. It can Dark Void to let Lugia set up 2 or 3 free Calm Minds, or spam Follow Me while Rayquaza vapourizes everything with Dragon Ascent.
Honestly, I'm really unsure for the last slot. I stuck Raichu on to redirect Electric attacks from Lugia and Thunder Wave from Rayquaza and for a fast Fake Out, but it hasn't been useful as often as the other 5 team members.
In-depth
Killer Wall (Lugia) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Bold Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SAtk
-Calm Mind
-Recover
-Aeroblast
-Psyshock
Everybody has memories of playing Pokemon in the schoolyard. There were certain Pokemon that everyone worshipped; ones that, if you had one, you were automatically cool. For some it was Charizard or Mewtwo; for others, Arceus. For me, it was Lugia. Because it was only catchable in XD, a game that none of us had (I grew up with Gen III), it had almost become a myth. I have fond memories of the release of HGSS and the bittersweet feeling that, although I could now get a Lugia of my very own, it would never have the same "cool" factor.
Oh, right, this is an RMT. I guess I should write an actual description. The centerpoint of this team, Lugia is the great Guardian of the Seas that just. Never. Dies. Furthermore, it has a very nice base 110 Speed, so you can get the jump on slower Primal spreads and Calm Mind or Recover in their face. Lugia is really, really underrated in my opinion - it does need more support than, say, the Primals, but if you can set it up, it can take pretty much any attack. The EV spread guarantees the 2HKO on 4 HP / 0 Def Xerneas with +2 Psyshock, while dumping the rest into HP and Defense to improve physical bulk. Recover is the superior option to Roost because it doesn't remove Lugia's immunity to Ground moves, which is a nice thing to have with Primal Groudon everywhere. As far as attacking moves go, there are 4 viable options on a set like this: Aeroblast, Psychic, Psyshock, and Ice Beam. Aeroblast is a shoo-in, being a powerful, accurate STAB, especially since Flying is an excellent offensive type. I decided not to use Ice Beam for two reasons: first, it doesn't hit as hard on neutral targets as Psyshock, and I have other ways of hitting Salamence and Rayquaza. Second, with almost every team having either Xerneas or Primal Kyogre, both Pokemon with massive Special Defense, I wanted a way of hitting them on their weaker Physical defense.
C# Major (Klefki) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
Bold Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 SDef
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Safeguard
-Thunder Wave / Swagger / Crafty Shield
This adorable little key ring is Lugia's perfect partner in crime. It can set up screens to soften blows against it, as well as Safeguard to protect it from things like Thunder Wave, Toxic, and Dark Void. Klefki is especially useful because of what the norm for it is: because most people expect Swagger and Thunder Wave instead of Screens, they often go for something like Quick Guard, giving me a free turn to set up a screen. The EV spread makes Modest 252 SAtk POgre's Water Spout never OHKO through a Light Screen. The last move is dependent on how I'm feeling: Thunder Wave can cripple enemies that rely on their speed and can sometimes clutch out games; Swagger is really cheesy, but as a friend from the Premier Challenges I go to once said, "Swagger can get you from a losing position to a neutral one, from a neutral position to a winning one, and from a winning position to an indomitable one." It also buys more free turns for Lugia, and if I'm feeling especially evil, I can set up Safeguard and then Swagger my own Rayquaza. Crafty Shield is mostly useful for blocking opposing Pranksters such as Thundurus and Liepard, who give the team a bit of trouble otherwise.
Ray Rizzo (Rayquaza) @ Choice Band
Ability: Delta Stream
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Dragon Ascent
-Extreme Speed
-Earthquake
-Waterfall / Draco Meteor
I will open Rayquaza's description with a short story. I go to a lot of Premier Challenges. However, it just so happens that a lot of the top players in North America live in my area. Thus, our PCs are incredibly competitive. I distinctly remember one particular battle: I was using a pretty standard Groudon/Cresselia set-up-TR-and-Gravity-and-spam-Precipice-Blades team, and my opponent (who is unknown outside my area but frequently top cuts or wins our tournaments) tore apart my team with Banded Rayquaza. Initially, of course, I cried "cheap", but then I realized that if he can use it, so can I. It just so happened that my team needed an enforcer to take out the things that Lugia fears, and so I went with a Choice Band over the more common Life Orb or Focus Sash. The loss of Protect hurts sometimes, but the ability to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan, Primal Kyogre, Xerneas, and so many other big-name mons is just too good to pass up. Dragon Ascent is the move I use 90% of the time, for obvious reasons. Extreme Speed is nice for when I save Ray for the endgame to pick off weakened Pokemon. I don't use Earthquake too much, but the spread attack is really nice. The last move is a bit of a toss-up between whether I want to threaten Salamence or PDon: Waterfall OHKOs Groudon (and can catch it switching in if I decide not to Mega Evolve), while Draco Meteor beats Mega Salamence despite not having any investment. As much as I wish I could run Adamant for even more power, Jolly is pretty necessary for outspeeding base 110s.
252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Primal Kyogre: 214-253 (103.3 - 122.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 204-241 (101.4 - 119.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Rayquaza Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Primal Groudon: 204-244 (98.5 - 117.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Yveltal: 204-241 (100.9 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ferrothorn: 156-184 (86.1 - 101.6%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
-1 252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 142-168 (86 - 101.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Rayquaza: 196-232 (108.8 - 128.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 204-241 (101.4 - 119.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Rayquaza Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Primal Groudon: 204-244 (98.5 - 117.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Yveltal: 204-241 (100.9 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ferrothorn: 156-184 (86.1 - 101.6%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
-1 252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 142-168 (86 - 101.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Rayquaza: 196-232 (108.8 - 128.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Hovercat (Landorus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant Nature
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Knock Off
-Protect
After looking at the first 3 members of my team, I realized that the only Pokemon that hit hard right off the bat was Rayquaza, and it is vulnerable to being outplayed by Protect. I wanted something that could mindlessly deal damage to wear down opposing Pokemon. Something like, say, the most common Pokemon last year? Yeah. Landorus fits especially well onto this team because both of my restricted Pokemon are Flying-types, and are thus immune to Landorus's Earthquake spam. Rock Slide has actually become better this year in my opinion: because Thundurus is switching from bulky spreads to fast Sash sets, Rock Slide can do major damage to them (along with being my go-to option for Talonflame and having the same awful 90% accuracy and 30% Flinch). I went with a Life Orb set because I wanted to hit a bit harder while still being able to switch moves and use Protect (and besides, the Choice Band was already taken).
Dog Void (Smeargle) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Moody
Jolly Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
-Dark Void
-Fake Out
-Follow Me
-Spiky Shield
And now for everyone's favourite Pokemon!
...yeah. Smeargle. Everybody hates Smeargle, but that's because it just does its job of annoying the opponent so well. Smeargle pairs very well with both of my restricted Pokemon: Rayquaza because it can Dark Void slower, bulkier opponents and redirect away attacks while Rayquaza erases things from existence, and Lugia because of all of the free turns it generates. I'm honestly not sure what to say about the set; it's a carbon copy of the Big Six Smeargle, but that's because it works. I suppose, though, that although my first goal with this team is, of course, to win by any legal means necessary, my second goal is to spam Dark Void in tournaments to try to get it banned.
Pikachu 2.0 (Raichu) @ Zap Plate
Ability: Lightning Rod
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Fake Out
-Feint
-Encore
-Volt Tackle
Raichu has two roles on the team: First, provide a fast Fake Out and Encore to support Rayquaza and Lugia. Second, redirect Thunder Waves. This is a pretty standard Raichu set, but honestly, it hasn't been useful very often and the team works pretty well with 5 Pokemon. If anybody has suggestions for something else in place of it, I'm open to hear them.
Common leads
Lugia + Klefki is my normal lead if the opponent has nothing to threaten it. The strategy is that I have Klefki set up whichever screen would be more useful turn 1 (for example, Light Screen if I'm against Kyogre) while having Lugia go for Calm Minds. Once Klefki goes down, I can bring in Rayquaza or Landorus and go on the offensive. The key point for using Lugia: Don't get greedy. Unless you have it out with Smeargle and both enemies are asleep, it is never necessary to have more than 2 or 3 Calm Minds.
On the other hand, if I want to go on the offensive right away, I can lead Rayquaza and Smeargle, and then have Smeargle Fake Out and redirect everything away from Rayquaza while it goes for Dragon Ascent.
Landorus pairs well with Rayquaza since it can spam Earthquake to complement Rayquaza's Dragon Ascents. Alternatively I can go for the double EQ spam, but obviously this is made less viable by the multitude of Flying-types in the metagame.
Threats
This team struggles quite a bit against Yveltal Dark-spam teams. Lugia simply cannot stand up to Yveltal's Dark attacks, and it OHKOs Rayquaza and Landorus with Foul Play. Its Dark Aura also boosts enemy Sucker Punches, which my team does not enjoy taking.
Intimidate from things like Salamence and Mawile weakens Rayquaza, greatly reducing its effectiveness.
Obviously, any time you're using a bulky booster like Cresselia or Lugia, you have to watch out for critical hits, so using this team can be a bit stressful at times.
Furthermore, because this team relies quite a bit on surprises (Banded Rayquaza, Screens Klefki, etc.), it performs much better in Bo1 play than in Bo3.
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