Hello! I started competing in the VGC competitive circuit for the first time this season. I'm coming from the TCG, which I had previously been playing competitively since 2016. I'm going to be playing in VGC side events at the Sacramento Regionals this weekend, and I am trying to prepare a team. However, I am not really experienced at teambuilding. Currently, I tend to find rental teams I like and build a team similar or identical to one that I find. I'm honestly not liking many of the rental teams out there at the moment, so I was wondering if I could get some help building my own team. I really like weather teams (particularly rain), and I tend to play in an aggro style. I really like the Pelipper, Archaludon, Basculegion core. Could anyone help me find potential partners for these three Pokémon, or maybe suggest a different core? Thanks!

Any objectively good Pokémon that you refuse to use? I love Trick Room teams but I think Indeedee is one of the lamest Pokémon so I never put it on my teams. Just not cool or cute or anything IMO just straight up ugly and annoying. but it’s so good it hurts to not use it. Anyone else have any Pokémon they won’t use for a petty reason?

I'm going to start organizing Vgc tour online on Limitless, would you like to participate? https://x.com/HiruGamerVGC/status/1858864667042402467?t=hGh96Wwf6Sma43NH_188EA&s=19

This is a place for you to ask any quick question you might have that relates to VGC, which is the official double battle format. For questions about Single battles, monotype battles, other metagames, or even more opinions on VGC, please visit r/Stunfisk.

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If your question is longer or more involved, feel free to make it its own thread!

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Please be courteous and respectful both to askers and answerers.

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This post will be archived 3 days from the time of its posting, and replaced with another post.

Currently using a team, centralised on Maushold Beat Up on Annihilape and Archaludon, as well as Pelliper for rain, with Primarina to make use of water moves, and Incineroar to round off the team for intimidate. Currently all mons are using basic helt items, Maushold got covert cloak, Pelliper using Sash, Archaludon got AV, and Primarina has Life Orb.

Im struggling a lot with Jumpluff specifically the Jumpluff set used by recent competitive winner (ithink he won idrk), including Chlorophyll Jumpluff and a bunch of other sun mons, but it keeps spamming sleep powder. Annihilape suffers a lot from this, I tried Lum Berry but it just doesn't work as well. I wanted to give Safety Goggles to Annihilape, and give Lum berry or sitrus berry to Incineroar

If you want to look into my team, here's the PokePaste: https://pokepast.es/ceabfabadb4a0962

I saw some of the IC in Brazil and we saw some uptick on a few mons usage rates

Even more dragonite, dondozo and volcarona. A lot less alolan ninetales

Still a lot of rain teams but Marco Silva won w a sunroom team

Should we expect more of the same in this upcoming regional or more sunroom and more counters like murkrow w haze and/or even tyranitar sand teams ?

Side note: also what ability and build is dondozo and tatsuguri usually running? I tried finding the answer online but couldn’t find it

I have not been playing at all and need this team rated and some opinions given. I built it on a whim and when I asked my discord about it they said that Nils used the same core in Lille. Since I havent been watching vgc I guess great minds....

Since it is on a whim and since I need it rated I was hoping to make a bit of a shorter post because when I tried to submit this 5 minutes ago I had less than half an hour to get feedback from the community, now I have 20 minutes.

Also since it was on a whim I have no idea if this will actually work.

Quick rundown. Honestly for word count so I don't get removed again

1.Corviknight tailwind and has nearly perfect partnership with number 2

2. Sneasler.... he is top meta rn for a reason.

3. Rilla terrain, fake out, hot swap

4. Incin intimidate fake out parting shot standard inho

5. Electabuzz. Already have burns, wanted follow me and extra speed control in case corviknight was busy trying to deal damage

6. Palafin I am not a believer in Prim or in Basculegion outside of rain... not a ton of great options other than Palafin

Evs are guesses. Probably tanky enough. Probably good on damage.

15 minutes before this stops mattering, I hope I hit word count.

https://preview.redd.it/pntm0jic2q1e1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=1002519a13551957b74d4cbbfe3dcc6470a7980a

The above team is my Reg H Dancer Team. Oricorio is the main player on the team but is not essential for the team to pick up wins. I have been running Dancer stuff since the beginning of the reg, earning Challenge Points in each Grand Challenge, placing 5th in a 64 person tournament, and peaking at #4 on the Showdown Bo1 ladder. I have not played too much on cart since I am not a big fan of the pace of play, but it did get to Masterball in 4 games last split. The team is gimmicky, but does offer pretty good tools into most meta teams.

The team is focused on getting the most use out of the Dancer ability. Pokemon with “Dancer” immediately copy when a dance move is used. Using a move through Dancer is a Separate action.

Dance Move - Dance Moves include the following:

|| |Aqua Step|Feather Dance|Fiery Dance|Quiver Dance| |Clangorous Soul|Sword Dance|Lunar Dance|Petal Dance| |Dragon Dance|Revelation Dance|Teeter Dance|Victory Dance| ||

Copying a dance move does not just apply to teammates. If the opposition uses a dance move, Oricorio will copy it. For example, if an opposing Volcarona used Quiver Dance, Oricorio will immediately copy it, and be able to return fire with an air slash or revelation dance. 

Immediately - Oricorio will copy the dance move immediately, right after a move is used. This means that normal attack moves like Aqua step or fiery dance effectively become multi hit, double tapping mons holding a focus sash, like Sneasler or Excadrill. 

Separate Action - Oricorio will copy the move even if Oricorio uses protect. Dancer being a separate action also accelerates sleep turns since Oricorio will attempt to copy a dancing move when asleep. For example, the board is Quaquaval and an asleep Oricorio. Quaquaval uses Aqua Step, Oricorio will attempt to copy the Aqua Step, which counts as a sleep turn. Then it will be Oricorio’s turn and it now has a chance to wake up and attack. 

I chose to build around this gimmick because I like using underexplored mons with abilities that make the pokemon really strong. The dancing gimmick allows my side to basically have 3 moves a turn rather than only 2 moves. The team features three pokemon that are under top 100 in usage on the current ranked ladder popularity listing , Quaquaval (108), Golduck (unranked), Oricorio Pom - Pom (unranked, but Ghost is 149)

Oricorio - Oricorio is the star of the team despite it's poor base stats. Oricorio’s base stat of 476 is extremely low for a format that effectively tops out at 600 (besides Palafin/Slaking). Through Dancer, Oricorio can quickly become relevant. After one aqua step or a fiery dance special attack increase, Oricorio’s base stats become ~520, which is starter territory, and after one quiver dance, Oricorio is ~600, pseudo legendary territory. 

Why the Electric variant of Oricorio? I have considered running the ghost version, which most are of the opinion is the better form, and I don't disagree. With the Ghost form, you can give it a more offensive item since you no longer need fake out immunity. I prefer the electric version on this team because without it, I do not have a good answer for water types. 

Notes about stats - I run my Oricorio with maximum special attack and a good bit of speed. The speed tier you want to hit is at least 130, since max speed pelipper is 128. Currently I have it so that after speed boost (from aqua step or QD), the bird outspeeds adamant dragapult. This speed tier might need updating since dragapults are now running max speed It is important to run 31 IVs in attack since Aqua Step + Oricorio Aqua Step will pick up the knock out on Male Indeedee. 

Moveset Comments:

Revelation Dance - 90 base power move that becomes the typing of Oricorio’s primary type. This means that through terastalization, you can change the typing of this attack from electric to in my case fairy. This is pretty valuable in closed team sheets since you can catch the opposition off guard with a hard hitting move from a typing they do not expect. 

Baton Pass - Baton Pass switches the user out and passes all stat increases and decreases to the incoming pokemon. This move really unlocks the team and lets you pass the benefits of the dancer ability to a stronger mon. It's basically a “hot tag” in wrestling.  You can move the benefits of speed boosts or quiver dance boosts to an incoming mon like archaludon while getting Oricorio out of danger. 

Quaquaval - Quaquaval is the starter of the team. With Choice Scarf, it's often the fastest thing on the field, which lets Oricorio quickly start dancing. Moxie lets Quaq become an absolute menace if unchecked. 

Ghost Tera was chosen to give Quaquaval immunity to fake out. This lets the dancing begin right away and keep pace while the opposition tries to set up. 

Notes about stats - I run 252 attack and 252+ speed. Speed nature is important to outspeed modest Typhlosion and scarf modest M Indeedee. 

Moveset Comments:

Triple Axel - Ice Spinner was considered but the presence of Dragonite and sash users made Triple Axel a necessity. The chance of missing is brutal, but the upside is too good to pass up. Below is a chart detailing the decision for choosing Triple Axel over Spinner. 

Murkrow - the newest addition to the team. Murkrow was added as a support mon that could help the team keep up with tailwind users, debuff physical attackers, and clear buffs.

Moveset Comments:

Feather Dance - Feather Dance lowers the target’s attack stat by two stages. It is a status move so with Prankster, Murkrow will move before the opposition gets an opportunity. When on the field with Oricorio, Oricorio will copy the move, making the target have -4 attack at +1 priority. Having a board with Murkrow/Oricorio is not ideal, but can neutralize things like Ursaluna, the dragons, or sneasler.

Golduck - Golduck is my answer to weather. Cloud 9 is a very strong ability that disrupts the opposition. I do not want the opposition to play to their strengths. That means no rain, sun, snow, or sand. Golduck is my disrupter that can really mess up my opponents game plan. Golduck being on the field basically halves Torkoal damage, makes pelipper ineffective, and breaks synergy of many popular teams. 

Sash was selected to give Golduck increased survivability in case the opposition is running mental herb Arch. Goggles Golduck is also a viable option. 

Ghost Tera was selected for similar reasons as the rest of the team. In cases where the opponent is running fake out / trick room, i can ghost tera and get my taunt off. The ghost tera was also used because I have been terrorized by some crazy perish song teams. 

Notes about stats - I run max speed Golduck to hit 150 speed. 150 speed is 1 point faster than my Volcarona. The rest of the EVs i dump in health to increase general survivability.

Moveset Comments:

Simple Beam - Simple Beam changes a pokemon’s ability so that any stat changes are doubled. This can lead to some fun situations. Into Pelipper/Arch, you can simple beam volcarona so that Quiver Dance is now +2/+2/+2, which means after the pelipper tailwinds, you have kept pace. You can also use simple beam on the opposition, to deny stamina stacking, turn off guts, replace defiant, turn off neutralizing gas, shadow tag etc.. Paired with Murkrow’s Feather Dance or Archaludon’s snarl, the debuffs can really make pieces on the board useless. 

Muddy Water - decent spread move that gets around follow me. Very good for hitting things like torkoal. The problem being 85% accuracy and 90 base power. The 30% chance to lower accuracy is very nice, especially when paired with Simple Beam. An accuracy drop paired with simple beam means the pokemon now has 60% accuracy. 

Volcarona - Pretty standard set here. Volcarona is the best dancing partner for Oricorio since it can Quiver Dance, and give Oricorio a coin flip to get +1 Special Attack with Fiery Dance. 

Notes about stats - I run 149 speed to match fast Goldengo. If I could make it 1 point faster to always outspeed Dengo, I would, but I did not want to speed tie Golduck. 

Water Tera was chosen since I did not want to give opposing archaludon’s a super effective option if i chose Dragon Tera or Fairy Tera. With Water Tera + Weather control paired with Golduck, electro shot was not a large concern. 

Moveset Comments: 

Fiery Dance was chosen over Heat Wave since Fiery Dance is a dancing move, and the 50% chance for +1 SPA can really snowball out of control.

Archaludon - Beefy Tank of the team. I really like Archaludon because you can switch it in, take a resisted move, and now physical attackers cannot touch you. 

Notes about stats - Currently I set speed so that after +1 speed (baton passed from Oricorio), archaludon outspeeds Garchomp. I think I will increase the speed so that after +1, Archaludon will outspeed Alolan ninetales. Only taking one hit of blizzard will be important in that matchup.

Ghost Tera was chosen for Archaludon because Sacred Sword Gallade was giving me a lot of issues. Now Close Combat Sneasler is an issue. It also was my answer to some of the beat up / arch stuff that was running around at the start of the reg.

Moveset Comments: 

Electroshot was dropped in favor of Snarl. Snarl spam lets me survive trick room turns and loosens up the opposition to get Volcarona safely onto the board. Paired with Golduck, The Snarl/Simple Beam combo can make Archaludon useless

1. Does trickroom affect stat changes? Is it better to lower my speed when using trickroom?

2. Does trickroom affect tailwind? Is it best not to set up tailwind?

3. Does trickroom affect priority moves? Does a priority move now go last?

Thanks yall!

https://preview.redd.it/7u926cxbgo1e1.jpg?width=1871&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8bee500613e87d512e8b6ca25d548044d122e2ea

I think this teams explains itself a bit:
Pengu and Meowscarada are my choice for pledge setters:

I choose Empoleon over Primarina both because I prefer him (I can use my first ever starter and steel is cool), but also because the combination of haze and a better physical bulk (to counter Sneazler mostly) makes him much different from Primarina. Also it hits just hard enough with the Pledge to be still a threat turn one.
Covert Cloak is for Fake Out and to avoid being statused by Sneazler, but I don't get Faked Out that much, so maybe I could change that item.

Meowscarada is the fastest grass starter, and his extra utility is great. The moves are (apart from Grass Pledge) Flower Trick for damage, Knock Off for utility more than from damage, and U-Turn let's you reuse him later in the game after he uses the Sash. A pretty great mon overall.

Let's go with the rest:

Ursaluna is the greatest (and slowest) attacker under the effect of the pledges, honestly the more "boring" choice out of everyone I feel. Vacuum wave is to give final slaps against a lot of stuff. Still he is great and is also part of plan B.

Plan B consist on Trick Room Indeede along with Ursaluna as a secondary lead, for either a final round and/or if I know I will not be able to setup my pledge looking at the opponent team. I can still use it as just a fast hitter, with a Tera I am still not 100% sure about, but has revealed very useful somewhat. Honestly he is there just to make the team work when the gimmick doesn't... well work anymore.

Wait why do there are two fast special attackers? Well Gholdengo is to be picked when I don't pick Indeede, and also as a very useful Trick user that can completely counter Sneazler if I use it at the correct time (and if they don't have Throat Chop), buuuuuuut... I am not sure about him, he has the same job as Indeede waaaaay too many times and while he can be useful, I feel like his slot can be filled by something a little less linear.
Still there is a reason he is so used, when he is good he is GOOOOOD.

Now Incineroar is Incineroar BUT with a twist. He is part of the plan C: him and either Ursaluna if I need to punch something HARD or with Gholdengo if I don't want to think don't know what to pick. BUT he is unique you see, he is full offensive and no one NO ONE expects him to do so much damage, if he is not killed ASAP. With the Pledge field activated he becomes incredibly good, and is still decent under trick room.
Add to that the intimidate, Fake Out and Knock off and he can both be a support and an attacker, without missing much.

Many of the EVs are copied and pasted OR are really basic, and are for the most part placeholder. Same with Tera, apart from Pengu (where flying is incredibly useful), and I still need to decide what to give everyone.
Items are fine for the most part, same with the moveset of most of the team.

I am looking for general advice on how to make the team generally better, even if it's a mostly for fun team, made out of love of Empoleon and the Pledges (originally even Incineroar had a Pledge, but that was way too janky). Still I can see the potential of the Pledges even in a more competitive setting, and I am having a lot more success than I thought.
So yeah, I think the team needs a little push to become actually good in most situations, and not just a simple gimmick team.

The 2025 Latin America International Championships has ended, capping off an exciting tournament featuring a star-studded Top Cut with Charizard and Jumpluff winning their first Regulation H event! Check out the top 8 teams below and click the link to see the full results!

2025 Latin America International: Won by Marco Silva (Marcofiero)

https://preview.redd.it/s04f0233do1e1.png?width=620&format=png&auto=webp&s=532d3e8983ffe4244fca3b47c96875e4e559471b

Hi all, I started playing VGC at the start of this current regulation, and had a lot of fun getting my slightly bizarre Dusclops/ Hariyama trick room team to Master rank. I found once I got there that there were less crazy teams in the masterball rank than lower ranks, and I simply didn't have the answers to a lot of it.

So I've decided to change teams and use the Pelipper distributed at LAIC paired with Archaludon for something a bit more typical of the current meta. I've also added hyper offensive Maushold for the beat up strategy and because I was getting smacked by population bomb maushold frequently on Showdown. I've added sinistea for some support and Garchomp and Talonflame because, of my previous attempt at a tailwind team, I enjoyed using them the most.

A couple of questions:

Firstly, do you think hyper offensive maushold is wasted on this team? Should I run a purely supportive set?

Secondly: tera flying tera blast on archaludon? Is that a done thing? I feel like switching to tera flying, tanking sneasler close combat and knocking it out could be fun.

Thirdly: absolutely stuck on an item for pelipper. Any suggestions?

Lastly, i had ran dragon claw on Garchomp on showdown, but barely ever touched it. Would rain dance be absolutely insane? In some weird situations it could be back up for the pelipper and for Archaludon electro shot if I don't want to bring pelipper.

I am going to run maushold tera ghost, just keep forgetting to change it!

First time building on my own, first time trying comp pokemon too, Since Reg H just started I wanted to try it myself, and built sround the triple rain core while trying not too depend on it too much.

Incineroar is here because, well, its incineroar, average spread on bulk, whils having enough attack to make it a threat to most rillaboom and amoongus. Ghost to avoid fake outs and fighting moves

Gholdengo to have a attacker that is still good even while not focused on rain, Life orb for dmg, all on SpA and speed, but I would like to know if it needs more bulk. Fairy to boost gleam, but really just to not have a weakness against dark and ghost.

Palafin the heart and soul of this team., its supposed to have mystic water but I forgot lol, same as gholdengo all on dmg, and would also like to know if it needs more bulk. Tera water for MORE DMG

Pelipper, Rain setter blah blah, but no tailwind in favor of ice beam to have a better matchup against pseudos, Thats supposed to be tera grass to stop amoongus.

My personal favorite, Archaludon, probably the most basic archaludon set just with herb so that I dont need to lead it with pelipper for max potential. Tera flying to resist fighting and ground.

Rillaboom, the backbone of the team, Ive brought it to almost every match ive played so far, it hepls against terrain, against TR and overall survivability. Steel for defense, obviously.

Any advice would be helpful considering I just started playing 3 days ago and only like 1400 on showdown

Somewhat new to VGC, mainly been using rental teams and experimenting on showdown.

Coming from Reg G to H, I would've thought the increased viability of more lower power format Pokemon and a wider range of viable strategies/playstyles would make moves like taunt necessary on most teams as a counter to any left field status options you might face or more common tools like trick room, tailwind, coaching, perish trap, weather setting etc.

Looking at recent top teams, taunt is rarely used. Electabuzz is one of the few mons that seem to run it. It this just due to a case of 4 moveslot syndrome or is there another reason taunt isn't really worth running?

Stunning performance from Marco Silva! Joseph Urgate almost nailed it, but Marco Silva did it.

Jumpluff - Torkoal - Charizard - Incineroar... And let’s not forget the distortion vibe in the team.

What a team that requires immense skill! The synergy is undeniable, with Sun staying strong and persistent, dominating the field.

What are your thoughts about this? How do you see this team evolving in future battles?

i want to play pokémon competitively, but i cannot afford to do so because i do not have the money necessary for a nintendo switch online account. however, i have completed the stories for sword, arceus, scarlet and their dlcs. i also have every pokémon in pokémon home other than zarude, regidrago, iron leaves, iron boulder, and iron crown

i figure in the meantime, until i can get NSO, i can at least train pokémon for competitive play. i always try to give my legendary and mythical pokémon the best natures and movesets, but whenever i get feathers or vitamins i just give them all to whichever pokémon i like best since i never cared about EV training

how do i start training my pokémon for competitve play? are zacian, regieleki, and urshifu still good? how do i know which pokémon are likely to win? why is it that competitive players use the same ten to twenty pokémon for about a year before everyone switches to a new group of ten to twenty pokémon to use?

With Quick Feet activated and 204 speed investment Mightyena out-speeds almost everything it needs to other than Whimsicott. If there is a time to make this mon work it's Reg H. With the right partner or setup it could actually bring some value for the first time in it's 20+ years. I'm not saying It deserves a spot at the table or anything like that. But there's a window for use here other than a helping hand support. There are so many other intimidators I just don't see the logic in using it on this mon.

I'm currently making a team with Thundurus-T since I think it's very slept on but I'm struggling to see how its EVs should be mainly due to bulk, what attacks should I try to make sure Thundurus can counter and what should I try to make it outspeed, it'll be Assault vest btw

It's the day to crown the Latin America International Champions 2025!

• Today's stream is underway but as always with these bigger events, the VGC finals are after the Pokemon Unite, Go and TCG finals. Based on the official schedule, the VGC finals are slated to start around 6:30pm UTC (it may or may not start on time, depending on how long the other finals go). You can watch all of the action here:
  • YouTube
  • Twitch
• Team Lists (available now)
• Players Standings
• Casters:
  • Evan Latt
  • Kosta Daidimos
  • Rosemary Kelley
  • Aaron Zheng
• VGC finals' matchups (click on the player's name to see their team):
  • Juniors - Takumi M. vs Ismael H.
  • Seniors - Carlos V. vs Pietro Nihal K.
  • Masters - Marco Silva vs Victor Medina

And don't forget to redeem the shiny Pelipper that Patrick Connors used to win the NAIC 2024 with the code below. However, do also be aware of this regarding the Pelipper.

• Code - W1DEGUARDLA1C25
• Runs until Nov 22, 2024 @ 11:59pm UTC

When browsing usage statistics (maybe on https://www.pikalytics.com ):

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* Do you wonder why a particular Pokemon has high or low usage?

* Do you wonder why a particular Pokemon's usage has changed recently?

* Is there a nature or popular move choice that you don't understand?

* Is there a complex EV spread that does something cool that you'd like to point out?

* Is there a complex EV spread that you don't understand and want to talk about?

​

Here is a great place to discuss any questions or comments you may have!

Hey vgc reddit, I played in a tourney today and performed really poorly, though I had a few close games though I lost them, and I'm hoping to perform better at the upcoming regionals in Sacramento. I may be seeking VGC coaching to improve my play before regionals. If anyone wants to help me in my journey, feel free to drop a comment or private message me. Thanks!

I havent really ever played much of vgc just cause the pokemon I like arent really good in it. I kind of want to start playing comp pokemon more just to give it a try, if youre not really like in super serious events do the tiers of like ou, uu, etc really matter or not really in lower elo?

Credit to @mamamia10012 on twitter,

Using the Patrick's Pelipper distribution could get you penalised at a major. Turns out the OT trash bytes don't match the OT. This is the same thing that caused the false flag with the traded egg Amoongus that got someone wrongly penalised last year.

Kurt of Kaphotics added additional information,

More specifically it's a non-rendered character at the end of the Trainer Name (0x200B), a zero width space

This is an issue with the distribution itself, it does not mean that Patrick's Pelliper was genned. I wanted to get the word out on this so people don't get penalized, but I'm also hoping this gets noticed enough that TPCI notices and makes sure their legality check doesn't flag it.

https://pokepast.es/2e6a4470e289ead6

Wanted to use Scovillain because I am a fan of spice and of the concept of the mon.

First thing I wanted was a way to make him impactful and I thought of him as a good mon to take care of Archaludon and Dondozo. A Tera grass boosted leaf storm takes out boosted Dondozo with Wave Crash recoil, and you live with focus sash. Plus you out speed in the sun if you need to attack before him. Sunboosted overheat takes out Archaludon when Tera Grass and all none assault vest variants. Is he the best sun user…. No but do I love him, and now have a shiny with the rank master title yes. The idea is a little glass cannon you use your grass or fire move then your -2 and you either finish them off with your second life thanks to focus sash or you use rage powder to get in your sweeper, or spicy extract to take down the defense for Garchomp and Sneasler.

Murkrow is the sun set up and tailwind when you don’t bring scovillain. I chose it because I don’t need to switch in if a slower weather setter is lead and prankster moves allow me to go first but after switches for the turn. There is a small use case for foul play it’s not terrible into Psy spam. Plus haze for Dondozo and Bloodmoon and set up Archaludon.

Wanted to clear Grassy Terrain so Indeedee chose female because I wanted more redirection. Also wanted to be able to reverse trick room and set it if the team was faster than mine. Plus psychics terrain boosted psychic OHKOs Amoongus.

Sneasler because Sneasler and i was tired of loosing to it. Stella Tera close combat takes out Archaludon.

Garchomp is a favorite, Fairy Tera to get past all the dragons. Choice band for EQ spam. Rockslide for Peliper and any random ice or flying types.

Gardivoir for telepathy, making 2 of the additional 5 immune to Garchomp EQ and there are so many Dragons in the format having a good fairy type seems important.

I have fun with it. Let me know what you think.