VoltTurn RillaBalance ft. AV Glowking (peak #50, 1887 ELO)

[spin da bloc]

Hi everyone! Welcome to my third RMT of the generation. I haven't been able to find my footing since Home released, but I'm proud to say I've finally climbed out of 1500's purgatory to return to top ladder with a new team! I hope y'all enjoy!

Table of Contents:

1. Proof of Peak
2. Teambuilding Process
3. The Pokémon
4. Threat List
5. Considered Changes
6. Conclusion
7. Importable

1. Proof of Peak

With this team I peaked at 1887 ELO, #50 in the DLC 1 meta as shown below. A new peak for me! (in terms of rank, not ELO rip)

2. Teambuilding Process


I'm mainly a balance/bulky offense player (rip me in current meta), so I liked the idea of building a bulky Grassy Terrain team.

Next I began looking for Pokémon that would synergize well with Grassy Terrain and counter current meta trends well. With the heavy rise of Iron Moth, Iron Valiant, and hyper-offensive teams in general, I opted for an Assault Vest Slowking-G set to serve as our dedicated special wall.

Sticking with fat Pokémon that benefit from Grassy Terrain, Kingambit is our Steel-type, late-game win condition, and "Oh Shiftry!" button all in one.

At this point, I notice that my team is quite defensively sound, but suffers from a lack of momentum and a heavily hazard-stacked metagame. I opted for a bulky Cinderace to provide momentum and Court Change hazards away, and a Bulk Up Great Tusk to sweep and secure complete hazard control.

Lastly, I added Zapdos to serve as our dedicated Ground switch-in. Zapdos also synergizes well with the team by providing speed control to an otherwise very slow team, and completing the team's VoltTurn core.

3. The Pokemon



PEEP HOLE (Rillaboom) @
Ability: Grassy Surge
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- Knock Off
- U-turn

is a breaker, pivot, and enabler for the team via Grassy Terrain. Grassy Glide, though nerfed, is still incredibly strong and pretty free in most situations. Grassy Glide is very useful for revenge-killing sweepers, particularly or a weakened , and can essentially win the rain matchup on its own. Wood Hammer provides a powerful breaking move against fat structures, doing big damage to , , , , etc. Lastly, Knock Off provides item control and soft punishes and , while U-Turn provides momentum.

Tera Grass was selected for maximum breaking power, especially in the stall matchup. The given EV spreads maximizes breaking power and speed.



ROCKSTAR (Great Tusk) @
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
- Bulk Up

is the secondary member of the hazard-control core, our primary physical check, and one of our two sweepers. Headlong Rush is our STAB of choice and provides excellent coverage alongside Ice Spinner, while not being weakened from Grassy Terrain like Earthquake is. Ice Spinner is our coverage move, mostly notable for , , , , and popping on the switch-in. While it is true that Ice Spinner ends our terrain, it also ends other teams' terrain. This tends to be more relevant since we often can catch opposing coming in, or Ice Spinner their terrain away before they can Wood Hammer. Rapid Spin boosts our Speed and clears hazards, while Bulk Up boosts Great Tusk to victory.

Tera Steel was selected for general defensive utility and creating setup opportunities, particularly when facing a , , or . The given EV spread maximizes Grassy Terrain/ recovery while ensuring a Protosynthesis Attack boost. I chose the Attack boost to massacre sun teams, but the 12 EVs could easily be moved around to get the Attack, Defense, or Speed boost.

Note: One common sequence you might see with is Bulk Up on Protect -> Tera Steel and Bulk Up/Rapid Spin on Toxic, or Ice Spinner raw to KO. This is especially effective under Grassy Terrain as really cannot do anything to you with Earthquake, and you still have Grassy Terrain to heal you if you get your knocked.



TLC (Kingambit) (F) @
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Kowtow Cleave
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head

is our primary wincon, bulky Steel, and emergency revenge killer. For the better part of the run I used the more traditional 141 Speed set, but switched to a slightly faster 172 set at higher ladder. The best way to use is to get a free Kowtow Cleave into a slightly worn or for the knockout, or as a get-out-of-jail-free card against utility , but it also eases predictions into and (e.g., they predict Tera Flying and Dire Claw, you heal off the status). Otherwise, the standard set is run. I swapped between Low Kick and Iron Head a little bit, but I think that Iron Head remains more consistent for threats like , , and Tera Fairy .

Tera Flying is used as the most consistent way to create setup opportunities. The given EV spread aims to maximize Attack, outspeed opposing 171 , and maximize Grassy Terrain recovery, in that order.

+2 Kowtow Cleave, 0 Allies vs: Defensive : +2 252+ Atk Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Zapdos: 319-376 (83 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
vs: Offensive : +2 252+ Atk Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zapdos: 358-423 (111.5 - 131.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
vs: Def. : +2 252+ Atk Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 248 HP / 248+ Def Moltres: 243-286 (63.4 - 74.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
vs: Sp. Def. : +2 252+ Atk Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Moltres: 342-403 (89.2 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO



BLAME IT ON BABY (Zapdos) @
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 188 HP / 208 Def / 4 SpD / 108 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Thunder Wave

serves as our Ground immunity, speed control, secondary physical check, and momentum gatherer. The set is pretty standard overall. Volt Switch is used to gain momentum, Hurricane is our 70% accuracy Chad STAB move, and Roost and Thunder Wave are for longevity and trolling, respectively.

Tera Fairy was mostly selected to have a solid defensive typing that adds a failsafe Fairy-type to the team, though I will note that I ran Tera Steel in the earlier part of my run and clicked that more. Additionally, you could argue that Tera Fairy helps against , but we already have a method of dealing with that (keep reading). So, consider whether or not Tera Fairy is the right choice for you.

The given EV spread hits 263 Speed to outspeed , , etc. at 262, maximizes Grassy Terrain recovery when Roosting, and then maximizes bulk. This spread also allows to live an Ivy Cudgel from from full health, allowing you to safely Volt Switch or Thunder Wave the threat without needing to predict.

In general, I think Zapdos is a valuable member of the team, but is probably the weakest link currently in terms of optimization. Here are some changes I would consider testing:

• Moves: Consider the combination of U-Turn and Discharge over Volt Switch and Thunder Wave to guarantee momentum on and and give yourself a move to stay in against opposing .
• Tera Type: Consider running Tera Water to greatly improve the matchup into + / , as Tera Water is still not a perfect answer due to its lacking physical defense. I mentioned Tera Steel above, but that was just to illustrate that I'm not clicking Tera Fairy that often-- ultimately if is Tera Steel, these two would essentially accomplish the same thing through Tera. Thus, my best advice is to test Tera Fairy vs. Tera Water.
• EVs: I ran the standard 301 Speed defensive spread for most of my run and only later switched to the current spread. So, if you find the team to be too slow, this could be a potential solution.

BLIND (Slowking-Galar) (M) @
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 212 HP / 16 Def / 164 SpA / 116 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Flamethrower

is the best ace up this team's sleeve, in my opinion. This set single-handedly solves issues with special attacks, full stop. and will consume their only to get 20% off into , and will die to Psyshock in return (if you're lucky the will give you their Tera Steel while they're at it). Calm Mind thinks it can beat you with Tera Steel, but a well-timed Flamethrower solves this issue. thinks it has you trapped and dead to rights, but a Tera Water Surf puts the advantage back in your court. And Sludge Bomb is an excellent fishing move against incoming , , , etc.

This set heavily relies on the surprise factor of , so choose the order in which you reveal moves carefully. It is often worth it to click a Psyshock into a Protect to bait them into thinking they wall you, or to conceal Flamethrower until you are certain that or is coming in (though this doesn't usually take long).

Tera Water was partially selected as a generally solid defensive typing, but is honestly moreso important for boosting the power of Surf against , , , , etc. (see threats below). The given EV spread is just the standard spread from Smogon with some EVs moved from HP to SpA. I did this in order to hit a Grassy Terrain number and give a tiny bit more of an offensive presence.



GO (Cinderace) @
Ability: Blaze
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 204 HP / 32 Atk / 20 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- U-turn
- Will-O-Wisp
- Court Change

is the primary member of our hazard control core. We run the standard bulky set because it's goated. That's it. Did you think I'd have more to say about this guy? Dude knows one move. NBA, the way this guy thinks he's Court Changing.

I didn't use Tera Ghost for most of the run up the ladder, but switched to it at high ladder and found it extremely useful. Tera Ghost allows to spinblock on (particularly relevant against Sticky Web teams), or get a Will-o-Wisp off on , , , or to win endgames.

4. Threat List



Point: This thing is cheap and makes me sad, Mr. Showdown please ban :( (unless it's Tail Glow, then you're fine.)

Counterpoint: Skill issue, I should run a team with Encore / Taunt / Haze / Roar.



Our team doesn't have an all-in-one solution to , so getting swept by it is possible if not played correctly. The best counterplay imo is to make a sacrifice to the Body Press god so you can go to your (hopefully) healthy , Tera Ghost and Will-o-Wisp. Even if you miss the first time, is 3HKO'd by Crunch, so clicking it again is fine if you're not Aaron Zheng. Of course, this requires a Lionel Messi rabbit to begin with, so either preserve your health as best possible or hope your opponent has not seen the team before.


I must admit, I faced this core maybe three or four times on high ladder and was not able to break it a single time (though for the majority of those encounters I had Ice Beam instead of Surf and instead of ). In my mind, the best way to go about this matchup is either to fish for poisons on to wear down Roost PP and attempt to preserve Tera, or to go at some point, Swords Dance to bait out , and burn Lum Berry in order to get a +2 Kowtow Cleave into it. Or maybe a combination of both? Or maybe it's better to just Tera early game and nuke these two with Surf??? Let me know below. :)


I don't consider stall a total threat for this team, which is why I have it the bottom of this list. Moreso it's a nuisance worth calling it since we really only have one form of counterplay to it. For a core like the one shown above, Tera Grass Wood Hammer should be sufficient to blow up 2+ members before faints from recoil, but even this can be avoided by making smart pivots to heal up your team with Grassy Terrain. Definitely avoid getting Knocked Off or poisoned by . If the opponent has a resist such as or , Knock Off their item on the switch initially, and U-Turn around them in subsequent turns.



Similar to stall, this guy is not an outright threat, but just a bit of a nuisance for this team. Our Fire resists are lacking, and sending in on it forces the Tera Grass/Bug mindgames. Thus, the only real counterplay is to preserve health on so you can safely Tera Water Surf. This method, however, is very reliable, so this route should be fine.


5. Replays

I thought I was saving replays as I went, but for some reason they didn't save :/ I will try to get a few in the near future for y'all.

6. Conclusion

I hope y'all enjoyed this RMT. Please let me know of any feedback and comments below, and definitely let me know if you try the team and enjoy it! See y'all in the next one.

7. Importable

RillaBalance ft. AV Glowking (w/ nicknames)
RillaBalance ft. AV Glowking (w/o nicknames)

 

[RaikouLover]

Dope team and congrats on the peak! Props for using King Kong and Big Bird. Two goated mons.

For Big Bird (Zapdos), I think your EV spread is suboptimal. Either go with the analysis spread to outspeed Jolly Tusk or max out the bulk (248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe, Bold). Neither Breloom nor Poltergeist are OU nor do they threaten super thicc Zapdos much (why would Zapdos be a fight for the teacup? You’d rather it SS first anyway). You still outspeed Adamant Breloom and Modest Volcanion with this spread and the added bulk will be better vs. everything else.

 

[matte]

Great presentaton! I knew you would deliver.

Just a small suggestion, if you continue to have issues with and , Try slotting Steath Rock on over Bulk Up. This change helps by giving extra chip as well as baiting in then knocking its boots off for you to chip it down with Rocks + other moves. Another suggestion is to swap Wisp on for Taunt. It helps shut down setup sweepers like and most expect you to go for Wisp instead meaning that you can just kill it with Pyro Ball (Soft suggestion ofc). Lastly, you can swap Psyshock on for Future Sight. It offers more support as well as being able to deal with better (Use + ). The only time i can see you would want Psyshock is for but you can just use Surf or to deal with it.

Other than that a pretty solid team. Tested it out on ladder and its fun to revenge with !

 

[spin da bloc]

Dope team and congrats on the peak! Props for using King Kong and Big Bird. Two goated mons.

For Big Bird (Zapdos), I think your EV spread is suboptimal. Either go with the analysis spread to outspeed Jolly Tusk or max out the bulk (248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe, Bold). Neither Breloom nor Poltergeist are OU nor do they threaten super thicc Zapdos much (why would Zapdos be a fight for the teacup? You’d rather it SS first anyway). You still outspeed Adamant Breloom and Modest Volcanion with this spread and the added bulk will be better vs. everything else.

Thanks so much!

I'd agree, I think in general Zapdos is the least optimized member of this team-- I've just been too busy with work and kinda burnt out of this team to truly finish the optimization on it. Originally I was running the 301 Speed Zapdos, to about the same degree of success tbh. I agree that 263 Speed is not super relevant (Breloom doesn't run Jolly which I knew when building but forgot when writing), it was moreso to hit some sort of notable speed tier while prioritizing bulk (e.g., guaranteed living Ivy Cudgel from Cornerstone), but I grant that it needs to be an all-or-nothing approach to Speed or bulk.

Which do you think is better in theory? And do you have strong opinions on the use of U-Turn + Discharge over Volt Switch + Thunder Wave, or Tera Water vs. Fairy?

 

[Slinky8989]

What a team i have try this and win 5 matches in a row

 

[Rubiaa]

I like this, i think a cool idea could be head smash on tusk to actually bait some moltres’s, and yea maybe find some other cool bait techs for ting lu

 

[spin da bloc]

Great presentaton! I knew you would deliver.

Just a small suggestion, if you continue to have issues with and , Try slotting Steath Rock on over Bulk Up. This change helps by giving extra chip as well as baiting in then knocking its boots off for you to chip it down with Rocks + other moves. Another suggestion is to swap Wisp on for Taunt. It helps shut down setup sweepers like and most expect you to go for Wisp instead meaning that you can just kill it with Pyro Ball (Soft suggestion ofc). Lastly, you can swap Psyshock on for Future Sight. It offers more support as well as being able to deal with better (Use + ). The only time i can see you would want Psyshock is for but you can just use Surf or to deal with it.

Other than that a pretty solid team. Tested it out on ladder and its fun to revenge with !

Thank you!! :)

I definitely considered rocks on for that reason, especially considering refuses to give me rocks (well, normally it just runs Spikes anyways), but that would leave me with only one long-term win-condition. If I went with rocks on , I'd probably need to swap someone else out for more breaking power.

As for Taunt on I strongly considered this, especially since invites in . I'm almost sold on it too. The only thing that scares me is how it weakens the , , matchups, since these mons either get Defense boosts to shrug off Pyro Ball, or resist entirely. But maybe this is where Tera Fairy can shine a bit more?

I do agree that a lot of , especially mid to high ladder, will expect you to Wisp immediately, and I've scored plenty of KOs on them using Pyro Ball on such turns, so in this sense Wisp might be unnecessary.

I originally ran Future Sight, but switched to Psyshock so I don't have to play around Substitute. BUT this was back when I was running Ice Beam over Surf. So, I grant that Future Sight is likely a strong suggestion, but Psyshock has definitely been clutch for preserving health on (particularly when there is a AND ) and for a little extra stallbreaking power (forcing Tera Dark on and extra damage on )

Thoughts?

EDIT: Two additional notes I thought of after some reflection:

1. Part of my general teambuilding process is to build teams that I think will get better with bans (which is why I tend to avoid mons I think will get banned in general, why I tend to build balance/BO even when it's not good, etc). So I think Taunt might be a good short-term solution, but if/when gets banned I'd probably swap back to Will-o-Wisp.
2. Future Sight could definitely be the move, especially if swapping to Taunt on , since it puts pressure on and (and opponent in general) in ways that Psyshock can't.

 

[spin da bloc]

What a team i have try this and win 5 matches in a row

So glad to hear it! :)

 

[spin da bloc]

I like this, i think a cool idea could be head smash on tusk to actually bait some moltres’s, and yea maybe find some other cool bait techs for ting lu

Thanks! I think Head Smash might be good if Moltres was a bit more prevalent, but I think Slowking-G and Kingambit should in theory be able to handle the occasional Moltres with the changes made. Plus, Ice Spinner is pretty much mandatory on Great Tusk currently due to Gliscor and Rillaboom.

 

[RaikouLover]

Which do you think is better in theory? And do you have strong opinions on the use of U-Turn + Discharge over Volt Switch + Thunder Wave, or Tera Water vs. Fairy?

I prefer thicc Zapdos because with max bulk the bird just refuses to die. Tera Water and Fairy are both good. I do prefer Water though. It can act as an emergency stop for things like Bond Greninja, Ogerpon-W, and last ditch vs. Wake.

U-Turn + Discharge is ok. Though you will find Discharge is annoyingly weak. U-Turn is goated though… can’t be blocked.

 

[matte]

Thank you!! :)

I definitely considered rocks on for that reason, especially considering refuses to give me rocks (well, normally it just runs Spikes anyways), but that would leave me with only one long-term win-condition. If I went with rocks on , I'd probably need to swap someone else out for more breaking power.

As for Taunt on I strongly considered this, especially since invites in . I'm almost sold on it too. The only thing that scares me is how it weakens the , , matchups, since these mons either get Defense boosts to shrug off Pyro Ball, or resist entirely. But maybe this is where Tera Fairy can shine a bit more?

I do agree that a lot of , especially mid to high ladder, will expect you to Wisp immediately, and I've scored plenty of KOs on them using Pyro Ball on such turns, so in this sense Wisp might be unnecessary.

I originally ran Future Sight, but switched to Psyshock so I don't have to play around Substitute. BUT this was back when I was running Ice Beam over Surf. So, I grant that Future Sight is likely a strong suggestion, but Psyshock has definitely been clutch for preserving health on (particularly when there is a AND ) and for a little extra stallbreaking power (forcing Tera Dark on and extra damage on )

Thoughts?

For the , and matchups, Swapping Wisp out is Ok as Zamazenta is always faster meaning that it will just OHKO with Body Press or Sub meaning that you just become setup fodder. Sneasler is dealt with your Slower as its extra bulk can just shrug off +2 hits and kill with another move (Hcane/Twave). Dnite shouldn't be a problem as just deals with it.

I would say run Future Sight, you are already running Sludge Bomb + Surf to hit both and . And the only source of special damage coming from your team is + meaning that you don't even need to worry about the stall matchup on the special side. Future Sight helps out your physical breakers like Kingambit by getting extra chip damage from Future Sight. (Kowtow is now a 2HKO on thanks to Future Sight.)

 

[FFK]

Hey! Congrats for peak, although I have some suggestions :

-

Ice Beam > Surf / Flamethrower : is a pain for you, you don’t have anything against, it’ll just switch to grass resists such as or stuffs like this when you send your Rillaboom Ice Beam would definitely fix the issue, baiting Gliscor and Dragapult which your team is weak to (Ice Beam OHKO Gliscor ). Surf isn’t that worthy because there isn’t any Heatran in the tier, you have psyshock / future sight for Iron-Moth and you have at least Great Tusk .

Glowking set

BLIND (Slowking-Galar) (M) @
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 212 HP / 16 Def / 164 SpA / 116 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower / Surf

——————————————

-

Tera Fairy Tera Blast > Tera Flying : You said that Rillaboom forces Tera Dragon Dondozo then, why not opt for tera fairy Kingambit so that you can punish Tera dragon because once Dondozo Tera’d, you don’t have anything to break stall (RIP if opponent has Corviknight ). You are also very weak to DD Roaring Moon (even if it is suspect tested, I don’t think it’ll be ban) as it does like 90% to Zapdos after 1 DD and Booster Energy + Knock Off (RNG Moment are not reliable, para roaring isn’t a reliable option) and Tera Fairy would help you revenge kill that mon.

Kingambit set

Kingambit @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Atk / 24 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Tera Blast
- Kowtow Cleave
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

——————————————

-

As Raikou Lover said, your spread is suboptimal and going for the Smogon spread to outspeed jolly Great Tusk is better.
Running Tera Steel for Ogerpon-Cornerstone and Enamorus’ Moonblast is a good option too while baiting Stone Edge Zamazenta even if you live 1 hit if you are healthy.

Zapdos set

Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 108 Def / 152 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Volt Switch
- Hurricane
- Thunder Wave

——————————————

-

Booster Energy > Leftovers : You already have Zapdos and Cinderace as physical tanks. Opting for Booster Energy + Head Smash + Ice Spinner (Head Smash instead of Rapid Spin as you already have Cinderace ) Head Smash is for Moltres and OHKOing Zapdos after 1 Bulk Up (I know this is pretty uncommon to run Ice Spinner + Head Smash but I think it‘s a good option, up to you) while revenge killing Ogerpon-Cornerstone thanks to speed boost.

Great Tusk Set

Great Tusk @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Tera Type: Ice
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Ice Spinner

——————————————

Your threats :

- Stall
- Moltres
- Manaphy Take Heart you are still weak to this set, the only thing you can do would be to swap something for Ogerpon-Wellspring with Encore because running taunt on Cinderace isn’t a reliable option as it can still Tera (dragon - fairy - poison)
- Grassy Offense : if you don’t manage your Tera correctly, you will definitely lose to this archetype as your team isn’t that bulky.

Hope this help !

 

[spin da bloc]

Will address these one at a time:

Hey! Congrats for peak, although I have some suggestions :

-

Ice Beam > Surf / Flamethrower : is a pain for you, you don’t have anything against, it’ll just switch to grass resists such as or stuffs like this when you send your Rillaboom Ice Beam would definitely fix the issue, baiting Gliscor and Dragapult which your team is weak to (Ice Beam OHKO Gliscor ). Surf isn’t that worthy because there isn’t any Heatran in the tier, you have psyshock / future sight for Iron-Moth and you have at least Great Tusk .

Glowking set

BLIND (Slowking-Galar) (M) @
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 212 HP / 16 Def / 164 SpA / 116 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower / Surf

——————————————

Thanks so much! So I originally had Ice Beam > Surf for and as you point out. However, I disagree with your analysis that is not being played. I would say at mid-ladder I'd agree with that statement, but once I got to 1730+ I began to see a fair amount of . That is why I switched to Surf. is managable even without Ice Beam as Psyshock is still good damage, and AV eats Dragapult hits easily. , I grant, is a nuisance, but is managable between Hurricane, Ice Spinner, and Grassy Glide/Wood Hammer. Just requires some prediction.

-

Tera Fairy Tera Blast > Tera Flying : You said that Rillaboom forces Tera Dragon Dondozo then, why not opt for tera fairy Kingambit so that you can punish Tera dragon because once Dondozo Tera’d, you don’t have anything to break stall (RIP if opponent has Corviknight ). You are also very weak to DD Roaring Moon (even if it is suspect tested, I don’t think it’ll be ban) as it does like 90% to Zapdos after 1 DD and Booster Energy + Knock Off (RNG Moment are not reliable, para roaring isn’t a reliable option) and Tera Fairy would help you revenge kill that mon.

Kingambit set

Kingambit @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Atk / 24 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Tera Blast
- Kowtow Cleave
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

——————————————

This is a solid suggestion and something I considered. You are right that forces Tera Dragon on , , etc. (although I didn't point this out in the RMT), so this is worth consideration. However, I don't see exactly how Tera Fairy would help me revenge kill more than Tera Flying already does. They'll usually click Earthquake, which we Tera on, or just set up Grassy Terrain to eat comfortably. I guess if they predict Tera Flying and click Knock Off? But imo the opponent should cover for Tera Fairy and click Acrobatics as the neutral move (or maybe we don't Tera and just revenge kill with Sucker Punch if it has already Tera'd).

-

As Raikou Lover said, your spread is suboptimal and going for the Smogon spread to outspeed jolly Great Tusk is better.
Running Tera Steel for Ogerpon-Cornerstone and Enamorus’ Moonblast is a good option too while baiting Stone Edge Zamazenta even if you live 1 hit if you are healthy.

Zapdos set

Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 108 Def / 152 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Volt Switch
- Hurricane
- Thunder Wave

——————————————

Yeah I agree with this, either Tera Steel or Water for the threats you mentioned and either the 301 Speed set or a max Def set would be ideal. I did point out that I used the 301 Speed set for most of the run above.

-

Booster Energy > Leftovers : You already have Zapdos and Cinderace as physical tanks. Opting for Booster Energy + Head Smash + Ice Spinner (Head Smash instead of Rapid Spin as you already have Cinderace ) Head Smash is for Moltres and OHKOing Zapdos after 1 Bulk Up (I know this is pretty uncommon to run Ice Spinner + Head Smash but I think it‘s a good option, up to you) while revenge killing Ogerpon-Cornerstone thanks to speed boost.

Great Tusk Set

Great Tusk @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Tera Type: Ice
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Ice Spinner

——————————————

This I have no initial thoughts on, I'd just have to test it and see. I see the logic, but I feel like Lum Berry, Surf (maybe Tera Water Surf), proper positioning, and patience are enough to get through . (Part of the problem is sometimes I'm not very patient) ((why I choose to play balance with this personality trait is beyond me))

Your threats :

- Stall
- Moltres
- Manaphy Take Heart you are still weak to this set, the only thing you can do would be to swap something for Ogerpon-Wellspring with Encore because running taunt on Cinderace isn’t a reliable option as it can still Tera (dragon - fairy - poison)
- Grassy Offense : if you don’t manage your Tera correctly, you will definitely lose to this archetype as your team isn’t that bulky.

Hope this help !

Again, I would categorize stall as more of a nuisance that requires proper positioning and predictions overtime than an outright threat, but that is sort of the nature of stall. As far as goes, I could see the argument for , but I'd just need to test it to confirm if this is a change worth making, or if my recent changes of Tera Water Surf and Lum Berry can solve the issue.

Manaphy I've got nothing for with this team really, I totally admit. As mentioned above, I try to make teams early meta that I think will improve as the meta develops, bans happen, etc. This team would fall under that pervue as is very banworthy imo. I agree Taunt isn't the most reliable option and something like Encore would help a lot.

I haven't had too much of a problem with offense-- I think Ice Spinner manages it will, and we have answer to the standard threats on those teams (, , etc.)

 

[FFK]

Hey, for Kingambit Tera Fairy, I didn’t make the calc but I don’t think Kingambit do like 70% to Roaring Moon with 2 fainted allies as this is the most common situation as Roaring Moon has a correct 105 /71/104 (trying to sucker read is a pain lol) Tera Blast will surely kill and is supposed to survive 1 hit even if it acrobatics at +1 +
I‘ll read the entire comment tonight

 

[I like Onions]

very good post!

 

[Charles Darwin]

Absolutely banger team, excited to try this out. This meta just isn't the same without Garg, man... #bringbackbalance

 

[waffle04]

Just wanted to leave a little thank you since I used this squad to get reqs

 

[spin da bloc]

Absolutely banger team, excited to try this out. This meta just isn't the same without Garg, man... #bringbackbalance

Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for the kind words! If you miss Garg, keep an eye out for my upcoming RMT ;)

 

[spin da bloc]

Just wanted to leave a little thank you since I used this squad to get reqs

You're welcome, and no, thank you! It's great to know people are using it and finding success with it! :D