Howdy-
A (Not) Brief Intro
I've been playing VGC for the last few months and have pretty exclusively been playing a Kyogre (and then Kyogre-Zam) Tailwind team (which is here, for reference).
With Reg J coming up, I wanted to try something different- however, there aren't really many teams for me to browse/samples to pull from, so I just gleaned as much as I could from teams on Munchteams and then put things together in a way that I thought made sense. However, it was extremely helpful for me to get advice last time on here for my Kyogre team, so I'd appreciate general tips, mon switches, or anything else that you all think would be helpful for me to add, remove or change. :)
Here's the Pokepaste- I'll do my best to explain how I've been using the team and how I'd like for it to function. Also, originally the team was hard TR (Caly-Ice, Indeedee, etc) but I really didn't like how it completely fell apart when TR was down. I ended up gradually copying the Pokemon of someone named Jwwt (saw his team on Munchteams) though I don't know any of his sets or EVs- I just don't want anyone to think I'm stealing his team/plagiarizing it.
At its core, my hope for this team is to be very flexible; I'd like to give myself ample time to reposition, set screens and set TR if it would work best against my opponent.
The Team
So, I think a fundamental piece of this team (and a personal favorite VGC mon of mine) is:
Grimm is here for screens support, and will usually be one of the support mons I lead. Spirit Break is there to blow up opposing Ursh dark or to massively hurt Ursh water; it helps force Tera or a switch out of the bikes (Miriaidon and Koraidon); and it helps it not be dead on the field if I can't switch. I'm not super certain about Taunt, though it feels like a very strong last move. I also don't want to run Thunder Wave, primarily to not help the opponent if I'm running Trick Room, but also because the 10% miss is not great if I'm relying on it to land. Also, I'm not super sure about his EVs; I copied them from from the Showdown calcs set, but I personally am not certain on what they do. Finally, his Tera type is Dark to help vs opposing mons with Taunt.
Incin is honestly a mon that I feel is not doing much for this team. I really don't find myself bringing it, even though I know Incin is (in general) an incredibly potent support mon, and one that's done really well on my Kyogre team. It's running a standard set for helping to ward off the Caly's, to deal with Zam, but I really haven't been bringing it much (or at all) due to Koraidon. Incin gets absolutely obliterated by the bike, and though the Intimdate support is nice, it doesn't matter if dies on switch in anyways.
So, Ursh-Dark is actually a mon I've been thinking of as an offensive support for the team. With Choice Band it hits like a train, though it really loses out with having no Tailwind on the team (Stellar Tera + CB blows up both bikes, and a lot of other scary mons- though I can outspeed with Scarf, it can't one shot anymore). EVs are from Showdown calcs, Stellar Tera is for nuking full health bikes/restricted mons, etc. It's felt good to lead with Ursh-Dark, and U-Turn helps with the team's desire to reposition and be behind screens with mons that are scary for my opponent.
The bike has a relatively standard set. It helps massively with repositioning, Electric Terrain is amazing for dealing with sleep moves (Spore, Chlorphyll sleep powder, and Darkrai Dark Void + Gravity), and Choice Specs absolutely delete anything. I'm aware that Dragon Pulse and Parabolic Charge aren't super common moves, but I feel like I'm comfortable with both of them, at least on this particular team. Dragon Pulse (again) helps deal with that ever-present "10% chance to miss" that Draco suffers from. Additionally, I'm not super fond of the idea of my bike being locked into a move that drops special attack by two stages when I expect it to be one of the last mons on the field. As for Parabolic Charge: presuming that we're in a TR endgame, I expect Miraidon to either be next to Magearna or Ursaluna. Urs is immune and Mag is resistant. So, PC gives Miraidon a much better chance to stay alive while still dealing huge damage in TR. Though I'm honestly not sure about Specs- I feel like Life Orb would be nice for not keeping the bike locked into a move via Specs, though I'm not super sure what I'd drop in exchange for Protect (as that could help in stalling out enemy moves/field conditions, or dodging Urs Earthquake).
Ursaluna, again, has a standard set. Flame Orb and Guts for nuclear damage, Protect to activate Orb/wait for TR to be set up. Facade is standard, Headlong Rush is great for exploding enemy targets, etc. Now, my issue is Earthquake: EQ could be insanely potent, but the two (or even three, somewhat) sweepers it would be next to would not appreciate being EQ'd. Neither Mag or Miraidon (and sorta Ursh, though I think it's more expendable in TR) can Protect against Urs' EQ, so I'm not sure if I should drop EQ or try to figure out what moves they can drop in exchange for Protect.
is a bit more tricky. It can pretty reliably one shot a lot of the scary mons with Fler cannon, and with Screens support and Leftovers, it can be quite hard to get off the field. However, again, I feel like it's suffering without having Protect. It feels necessary to have Mag as the TR setter (especially given its bulk and the lack of space on the team for another), and Calm Mind is a great tool for giving myself extra bulk and threat potential if left alone. Still, though, without Protect it feels way too difficult to get Ursaluna next to it and then to let Urs use EQ.
Conclusion
Overall, this team feels pretty nice to use. I like that I'm not dependent on Trick Room to function, but it also can be a bit difficult to get TR up/the team definitely feels harder when not in TR. Incin doesn't feel like it's working, and I'd like to find a way to let Urs spam EQ without worrying about knocking out my own restricted. I'd also appreciate any insight on changing Miraidon to Life Orb and if that's feasible/if it would be worth it.
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this essay. :)
A (Not) Brief Intro
I've been playing VGC for the last few months and have pretty exclusively been playing a Kyogre (and then Kyogre-Zam) Tailwind team (which is here, for reference).
With Reg J coming up, I wanted to try something different- however, there aren't really many teams for me to browse/samples to pull from, so I just gleaned as much as I could from teams on Munchteams and then put things together in a way that I thought made sense. However, it was extremely helpful for me to get advice last time on here for my Kyogre team, so I'd appreciate general tips, mon switches, or anything else that you all think would be helpful for me to add, remove or change. :)
Here's the Pokepaste- I'll do my best to explain how I've been using the team and how I'd like for it to function. Also, originally the team was hard TR (Caly-Ice, Indeedee, etc) but I really didn't like how it completely fell apart when TR was down. I ended up gradually copying the Pokemon of someone named Jwwt (saw his team on Munchteams) though I don't know any of his sets or EVs- I just don't want anyone to think I'm stealing his team/plagiarizing it.
At its core, my hope for this team is to be very flexible; I'd like to give myself ample time to reposition, set screens and set TR if it would work best against my opponent.
The Team
So, I think a fundamental piece of this team (and a personal favorite VGC mon of mine) is:
Grimm is here for screens support, and will usually be one of the support mons I lead. Spirit Break is there to blow up opposing Ursh dark or to massively hurt Ursh water; it helps force Tera or a switch out of the bikes (Miriaidon and Koraidon); and it helps it not be dead on the field if I can't switch. I'm not super certain about Taunt, though it feels like a very strong last move. I also don't want to run Thunder Wave, primarily to not help the opponent if I'm running Trick Room, but also because the 10% miss is not great if I'm relying on it to land. Also, I'm not super sure about his EVs; I copied them from from the Showdown calcs set, but I personally am not certain on what they do. Finally, his Tera type is Dark to help vs opposing mons with Taunt. Incin is honestly a mon that I feel is not doing much for this team. I really don't find myself bringing it, even though I know Incin is (in general) an incredibly potent support mon, and one that's done really well on my Kyogre team. It's running a standard set for helping to ward off the Caly's, to deal with Zam, but I really haven't been bringing it much (or at all) due to Koraidon. Incin gets absolutely obliterated by the bike, and though the Intimdate support is nice, it doesn't matter if dies on switch in anyways. So, Ursh-Dark is actually a mon I've been thinking of as an offensive support for the team. With Choice Band it hits like a train, though it really loses out with having no Tailwind on the team (Stellar Tera + CB blows up both bikes, and a lot of other scary mons- though I can outspeed with Scarf, it can't one shot anymore). EVs are from Showdown calcs, Stellar Tera is for nuking full health bikes/restricted mons, etc. It's felt good to lead with Ursh-Dark, and U-Turn helps with the team's desire to reposition and be behind screens with mons that are scary for my opponent. The bike has a relatively standard set. It helps massively with repositioning, Electric Terrain is amazing for dealing with sleep moves (Spore, Chlorphyll sleep powder, and Darkrai Dark Void + Gravity), and Choice Specs absolutely delete anything. I'm aware that Dragon Pulse and Parabolic Charge aren't super common moves, but I feel like I'm comfortable with both of them, at least on this particular team. Dragon Pulse (again) helps deal with that ever-present "10% chance to miss" that Draco suffers from. Additionally, I'm not super fond of the idea of my bike being locked into a move that drops special attack by two stages when I expect it to be one of the last mons on the field. As for Parabolic Charge: presuming that we're in a TR endgame, I expect Miraidon to either be next to Magearna or Ursaluna. Urs is immune and Mag is resistant. So, PC gives Miraidon a much better chance to stay alive while still dealing huge damage in TR. Though I'm honestly not sure about Specs- I feel like Life Orb would be nice for not keeping the bike locked into a move via Specs, though I'm not super sure what I'd drop in exchange for Protect (as that could help in stalling out enemy moves/field conditions, or dodging Urs Earthquake). Ursaluna, again, has a standard set. Flame Orb and Guts for nuclear damage, Protect to activate Orb/wait for TR to be set up. Facade is standard, Headlong Rush is great for exploding enemy targets, etc. Now, my issue is Earthquake: EQ could be insanely potent, but the two (or even three, somewhat) sweepers it would be next to would not appreciate being EQ'd. Neither Mag or Miraidon (and sorta Ursh, though I think it's more expendable in TR) can Protect against Urs' EQ, so I'm not sure if I should drop EQ or try to figure out what moves they can drop in exchange for Protect. is a bit more tricky. It can pretty reliably one shot a lot of the scary mons with Fler cannon, and with Screens support and Leftovers, it can be quite hard to get off the field. However, again, I feel like it's suffering without having Protect. It feels necessary to have Mag as the TR setter (especially given its bulk and the lack of space on the team for another), and Calm Mind is a great tool for giving myself extra bulk and threat potential if left alone. Still, though, without Protect it feels way too difficult to get Ursaluna next to it and then to let Urs use EQ.Conclusion
Overall, this team feels pretty nice to use. I like that I'm not dependent on Trick Room to function, but it also can be a bit difficult to get TR up/the team definitely feels harder when not in TR. Incin doesn't feel like it's working, and I'd like to find a way to let Urs spam EQ without worrying about knocking out my own restricted. I'd also appreciate any insight on changing Miraidon to Life Orb and if that's feasible/if it would be worth it.
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this essay. :)