I'll be using this post to talk about the team I used in the March International Challenge, the Illinois Midseason Showdown, and a Premier Challenge on 3/26, which was all fun and showed how I if need be, I would revisit this team when teambuilding for something like other Premier Challenges, Spring Regionals, and Nationals.
The Team I Used
Each Individual Member
Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Fire Punch
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Groudon was designed to shine when under Trick Room. The reason is that when under Trick Room, Groudon will be able to shine and fire off it's moves. The EV Spread is simple. 160 HP / 96 SpD can be used to survive Earth Power from Timid Primal Groudon, but that's personal preference at that point. Max Attack allows you to hit as hard as possible. The moves are simple as well. Precipice Blades is your Ground stab move, Fire Punch is your fire move for hitting steel types like Ferrothorn and Bronzong, and Rock Slide is your Talonflame and Ho-Oh who under the Heavy Rain, are an absolute PAIN to hit without Gravity.
Ability: Drought
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Fire Punch
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Groudon was designed to shine when under Trick Room. The reason is that when under Trick Room, Groudon will be able to shine and fire off it's moves. The EV Spread is simple. 160 HP / 96 SpD can be used to survive Earth Power from Timid Primal Groudon, but that's personal preference at that point. Max Attack allows you to hit as hard as possible. The moves are simple as well. Precipice Blades is your Ground stab move, Fire Punch is your fire move for hitting steel types like Ferrothorn and Bronzong, and Rock Slide is your Talonflame and Ho-Oh who under the Heavy Rain, are an absolute PAIN to hit without Gravity.
Kyogre @ Blue Orb
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 204 HP / 60 Def / 84 SpA / 4 SpD / 156 Spe
Timid Nature
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Water Spout
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Next, I went to Kyogre as I wanted to use Double Primal. Kyogre was really fun to use on this team as it provided me with an effective answer to Groudon. The EV Spread was ripped off a Nugget Bridge Generation Showdown post. It survives Dragon Ascent from Mega Rayquaza, Power Whip from Ferrothorn, and Volt Tackle from Raichu. Timid Nature is what was on there and I like it because it helps with speed since i'm running Water Spout and want to have as much HP as possible to use the move. Scald is our water move just in case Water Spout isn't a good idea. Ice Beam is just in case Kyogre is trapped in the Harsh Sun.
Next, I went to Kyogre as I wanted to use Double Primal. Kyogre was really fun to use on this team as it provided me with an effective answer to Groudon. The EV Spread was ripped off a Nugget Bridge Generation Showdown post. It survives Dragon Ascent from Mega Rayquaza, Power Whip from Ferrothorn, and Volt Tackle from Raichu. Timid Nature is what was on there and I like it because it helps with speed since i'm running Water Spout and want to have as much HP as possible to use the move. Scald is our water move just in case Water Spout isn't a good idea. Ice Beam is just in case Kyogre is trapped in the Harsh Sun.
Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 44 Atk / 212 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hyper Voice
- Double-Edge
- Protect
Now that I had my 2 Restricted Pokémon, I thought I should get a Mega Evolution. I realized that the Mega should be able to combat Mega Rayquaza, which could have been a hassle otherwise. I came to Mega Salamence, which was 100% the right call. The idea of Salamence is to handle Rayquaza with Draco Meteor, chunk Primal Kyogre with Double-Edge, and provide Intimidate support for the team. Hyper Voice is my spread move and is useful in situations where Double-Edge isn't a good idea. The EV Spread is the one that Aaron Zheng used at the 2015 US Nationals Championships, which I liked alot as the 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe didn't seem like a good fit.
Now that I had my 2 Restricted Pokémon, I thought I should get a Mega Evolution. I realized that the Mega should be able to combat Mega Rayquaza, which could have been a hassle otherwise. I came to Mega Salamence, which was 100% the right call. The idea of Salamence is to handle Rayquaza with Draco Meteor, chunk Primal Kyogre with Double-Edge, and provide Intimidate support for the team. Hyper Voice is my spread move and is useful in situations where Double-Edge isn't a good idea. The EV Spread is the one that Aaron Zheng used at the 2015 US Nationals Championships, which I liked alot as the 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe didn't seem like a good fit.
Cresselia @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Gravity
- Trick Room
- Skill Swap
Since I was running Double Primal, I figured it's about time I added a Trick Room user to help my slow Primal Groudon move first. Then I find Cresselia, which does everything I wanted it to. I can use Gravity to help Groudon use 100% accurate Precipice Blades. Since Groudon base speed stat is 111 while Cresselia is 105, Cresselia will be able to move before Groudon to set up Gravity to help Groudon with it's troubles and Skill Swap to control the weather game. This Cresselia can survive Sucker Punch from Yveltal, which is important. Mental Herb is to help set up Trick Room, but if they use Roar, then it can be annoying. Ice Beam is for damage since I can at least hit Mega Salamence and Mega Rayquaza, which can be nice.
Since I was running Double Primal, I figured it's about time I added a Trick Room user to help my slow Primal Groudon move first. Then I find Cresselia, which does everything I wanted it to. I can use Gravity to help Groudon use 100% accurate Precipice Blades. Since Groudon base speed stat is 111 while Cresselia is 105, Cresselia will be able to move before Groudon to set up Gravity to help Groudon with it's troubles and Skill Swap to control the weather game. This Cresselia can survive Sucker Punch from Yveltal, which is important. Mental Herb is to help set up Trick Room, but if they use Roar, then it can be annoying. Ice Beam is for damage since I can at least hit Mega Salamence and Mega Rayquaza, which can be nice.
Ferrothorn @ Lum Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Seed Bomb
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Once I had the first 4, I realized my Xerneas matchup was very weak. To fix that, I decided to add Ferrothorn to fix that. Ferrothorn worked well because a Gyro Ball can KO a +2 Xerneas very easily. If faced with a Smeargle/Xerneas lead, Ferrthorn can wake up from a Gyro Ball thanks to the Lum Berry and surprise the Xerneas with a Gyro Ball that thought it could do it safely. The EV Spread is the one from Ray Rizzo's 2014 Ferrothorn. I had it lying around in my battle box and just threw it on my team. Leech Seed is for continual recovery and Protect is standard. Power Whip is my grass move.
Once I had the first 4, I realized my Xerneas matchup was very weak. To fix that, I decided to add Ferrothorn to fix that. Ferrothorn worked well because a Gyro Ball can KO a +2 Xerneas very easily. If faced with a Smeargle/Xerneas lead, Ferrthorn can wake up from a Gyro Ball thanks to the Lum Berry and surprise the Xerneas with a Gyro Ball that thought it could do it safely. The EV Spread is the one from Ray Rizzo's 2014 Ferrothorn. I had it lying around in my battle box and just threw it on my team. Leech Seed is for continual recovery and Protect is standard. Power Whip is my grass move.
Thundurus @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
- Protect
After the Illinois Midseason Showdown, I started experimenting with other members to still give me what Crobat had, but did it a lot better since Crobat was a really bad fit. I realized I wanted speed control and something to handle Bronzong, which was a nuisance under Trick Room since I had a hybrid Trick Room team, as well as something for RayOgre and stop set up. I decided to look at Thundurus and that was a good idea. Thundurus offered everything I needed it to. I can Taunt the Bronzong which is generally a good idea since they often carry the Lum Berry, paralyze a Rayquaza or Kyogre to weaken their effectiveness for my opponent. I can also Taunt a Xerneas to stop them from setting up Geomancy and sweeping my team. My only regret with Thundurus is that I couldn't run Hidden Power [Water] for Groudon, but every move is important. The final move in Thunderbolt is just stab, which means I can't touch Groudon, but I can live with it.
Accomplishments with this team
- 17 out of 41st Place at the Illinois Midseason Showdown
- 3 out of 8th at a Premier Challenge
- 1681 in the March International Challenge
Thanks for reading this. See you next time with new articles. Bye.
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