VGC VGC Reg J - Tera Grass AV Magearna and friends

[Itchy]

team link:

about me:

I'm not usually one for "long" battles. I've played primarily 1v1 for as long as I've been on the site, but I've had passing interest in doubles too. I grew up watching VGC videos and understanding absolutely none of it, but somehow found a love for competitive pokemon through that. For whatever reason, the announcement of Regulation J, with never-before-usable mythicals, sparked this childhood interest again. I've had some success with this team on low ladder and would love any suggestions for improvement

the building process:

I was inspired to use Magearna, as one of the only actually usable restricted mythicals. Rather than using it as a trick room setter, which I personally found quite boring and predictable, I thought it might also work as a trick room beneficiary and cleaner. The one issue I was finding when doing preliminary calculations was that Magearna was just getting blown up before it could actually OHKO things, especially by the likes of Miraidon. Assault Vest solved the Miraidon problem and also allowed Magearna to surprise ladder opponents by tanking hits from Calyrex-S and Kyogre. This is the only custom EV spread on the team, the rest are just straight from the dex.

relevant calcs

252+ SpA Mystic Water Kyogre Helping Hand Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 196 SpD Assault Vest Magearna in Rain: 157-186 (83.9 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Calyrex-Shadow Astral Barrage vs. 252 HP / 196 SpD Assault Vest Magearna: 46-55 (24.5 - 29.4%) -- 99.8% chance to 4HKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Miraidon Electro Drift vs. 252 HP / 196 SpD Assault Vest Magearna in Electric Terrain: 126-148 (67.3 - 79.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I eventually landed on Tera Grass for many reasons.

1. it made the Miraidon and Kyogre matchups even better
2. Side Earthquakes from Ursaluna do 30% instead of 100%
3. Surprise powder immunity from Spore / Rage Powder
4. Grass Knots explode opposing Ursaluna, or the more rare Kyogre (at +1)

To start laddering and learning, I just replaced Dialga with Magearna from this Wolfe video's featured team I had watched a few days before. I filled in the sets from the smogon dex and adjusted a few team members as I laddered on PS. Lunala has filled the role of trick room setter well enough that I dropped the second setter I was using, Farigiraf, after laddering for a while. Ursaluna and Incineroar also staying on the bulky trick room team is probably not a surprise to anyone reading this lol. Ursaluna hits like a freight train and loves trick room, while Incineroar helps get trick room up with Fake Out and bolsters the high bulk across the team even further.


I dropped Farigiraf and Whimsicott from the original draft of the team at some point and began looking for support pieces that could do well in and out of trick room. First, I landed on After You Clefairy, which patched up the slightly shaky Calyrex-I matchup and made Lunala, Magearna, and Ursaluna all much scarier in and out of Trick Room. I've been really happy with how well it supports all of the offensive pieces and the flexibility it has given in leads.


Amoonguss is the pokemon I am least sure of on this team and is likely replaceable. It does best in Zamazenta and Kyogre matchups, and I usually leave it on the bench otherwise. When I want redirection, I usually end up choosing Clefairy for Friend Guard support. I would appreciate any guidance on this slot, or any others

 

[sheepie]

Okay so, very cool team and love to see you expanding into vgc, the biggest threat appears to be koraidon (particularly clear amulet) when paired with like flutter/bolt/lunala etc, as well as csr + zama being able to overwhelm you if left unchecked offensively (main issue is lack of immediate general pressure). I think going Tera water magearna and replacing clefairy or amoonguss potentially, namely going ogerpon fire/rock over amoon, but those are just minor nitpicks and your team definitely allows for room in said match ups so not necessary, just wanted to give my 2 cent.