Jamesspeed1's Life Orb Palkia YouTube Team (Episodes 15-20)

Introduction

Hey everyone James Baek (Jamesspeed1) here and I thought I would write about my teams that I use for YouTube on here like I said I would a while ago but didn't really have the time to so here we go. Also my Apex experience Blog post will be uploaded soon so look forward to that :] 

Life Orb Palkia was actually an idea Tommy Cooleen (@Tmanvgc) was telling me was so good for a long time but I didn't really consider it just because relying on an 80% inaccurate move to sweep is very risky. Recently my friends from Asia told me that they fell in love with Life Orb Palkia because of its ability to handle many of the individual members of Big 6 in 1 shot (assuming you hit). I decided to finally man up and not worry about accuracy to test the idea behing what is Life Orb Palkia.

Teambuilding Process

I started off with Palkia and Kyogre which are the essential members to this core as you want rain in order to hit Primal Groudon with Hydro Pump and the rain boost is necessary in order to knock out many Pokemon with Hydro Pump such as Xerneas and Mega Kangaskhan. For the Mega Pokemon, there wasn't a Mega that I felt this team absolutely needed, my friends were testing a lot of different megas like Mega Manectric (who i was really considering), Mega Sceptile, Mega Kangaskhan and even Mega Swampert. I decided to go with Mega Gengar due to the fact that it really helps in the weather war being able to trap Primal Groudon which is really important. I'm really experinced with Mega Gengar and Shadow Tag so I felt it was my best choice.

The next thing I really needed was a way to hit Primal Kyogre because this team really does struggle hitting Primal Kyogre and the only way I counter Primal Kyogre with this team is resisting water attacks with Palkia and hitting Kyogre back with a Spacial Rend which is usually a 3-hit knock out. I was thinking about Raichu but I wanted reliable speed control so I decided to pick Thundurus with physical attacks and it gave me another way to hit Ferrothorn and Kangaskhan with some large damage. I decided to add Landorus-T on the team because it helped with Intimidate, Double Genies are always good, gave me a way to hit Ferrothorn and helped against Groudon (you can never have too many Primal Groudon checks).

Finally the last slot was an interesting slot. I wanted something to help against the Xerneas matchup because Xerneas could sweep my team with a Geomancy boost. I was originally thinking about Ferrothorn since it helped against Xerneas and Kyogre and it benefited from my Kyogre's Primordial Sea but in the end I chose Bronzong because of the ability to set up Trick Room which I thought could be cool since it gave me more options, plays and win conditions especially against opposing Trick Room teams.

The Team

Palkia @ Life Orb  

Ability: Pressure  

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe  

Timid Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Spacial Rend  

- Hydro Pump  

- Flamethrower  

- Protect  

The Pokemon that the team revolves around and was the MVP of the team while playing with it. When most player see Palkia, they usually think Trick Room since most Palkia are built slow with Trick Room but this team revolved around Palkia as a Life Orb sweeper. Hydro Pump in the rain was absolutely devastating and picked up knock outs left and right. This thing is a monster and impressed me a lot. However there were some moments when I missed a Hydro Pump that cost me games but that's what happens when you are relying on such a powerful trump card. Spacial Rend was nice and Flamethrower helped against Ferrothorn so they couldn't stop my Hydro Pump sweep. The reason I had Pressure over Telepathy is because I couldn't get my hands on a Telepathy Palkia on my team which limited the plays I could make with my Landorus.

Kyogre @ Blue Orb  

Ability: Drizzle  --> Primordial Sea

EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 SpA  

Quiet Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe  

- Water Spout  

- Origin Pulse  

- Ice Beam  

- Protect  

My bulky Trick Room Kyogre set that I had used early in the season on my Kyogre Ho-Oh team and my early Cresselia Dual Prima team. I think Kyogre already does so much damage that you end up wasting so many evs in special attack so I invested the evs into physical defense to help against the matchup against Primal Groudon and allowed me to switch in Kyogre with more confidence. I have a Quiet Kyogre to have the most stat points I could get. Standard Kyogre with 2 water type attacks and I love sweeping with Water Spout under Trick Room.

Gengar @ Gengarite  

Ability: Levitate  --> Shadow Tag

EVs: 140 HP / 172 SpA / 196 Spe  

Timid Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Sludge Bomb  

- Icy Wind  

- Will-O-Wisp  

- Protect  

Mega Gengar is my personal favorite Mega Evolution because of my experience with it at Worlds 2015 when I brought it to the 2015 Pokemon World Championship and it was so good. It is a major disrupt to the opponent switching and limited the plays they made which i love about this Pokemon (also its burst mode in Pokken Tournament is broken). The evs seem strange and they should be since I grabbed a random Gengar from my Battle Box. It outspeeds Greninja which I thought was a fair speed stat to be reached since anything over Mega Salamence isn't that common in VGC 2016. The rest was dumped into special attack and hit points. Sludge Bomb is mandatory to hit Xerneas, Icy Wind I thought would be nice so I didn't have to play speed tie games with Palkia and slow down Mega Salamence and Mega Rayquaza for Palkia's sweep. Will-o-Wisp was a neat tech I put to slow down fast heavy hitters like Kangaskhan because Palkia and Kyogre don't like taking physical hits and it made the team bulkier overall.

Thundurus (M) @ Expert Belt  

Ability: Prankster  

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe  

Jolly Nature  

- Wild Charge  

- Superpower  

- Thunder Wave  

- Protect

Physical Thundurus is one of my favorite Thundurus because of its hidden potential and the way it can easily catch an opponent off guard. The normal item which I liked using Life Orb was already taken by Palkia and Thundurus needs a boosting item to have a chance to knock out Mega Kangaskhan and Kyogre so i gave it an Expert Belt. The damage output was very noticeable between Life Orb and Expert Belt but just being able to get the large amounts of damage I needed on certain Pokemon. Thunder Wave was great to help Palkia and Kyogre outspeed and start sweeping teams.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Superpower

Choice Band is my 3rd favorite Landorus of all time and my 2nd favorite Landorus this season. I think Life Orb is just an item all my Pokemon love and I love Life Orb Landorus but couldn't have it so I opted for Choice Band to gain some nice damage output. The reason why this Landorus is Adamant and not Jolly which is used to outspeed Primals is not because I have Trick Room but because I didn't want to mess up my Jolly Landorus which I was using for tournaments at the time and I didn't really miss the difference between Adamant and Jolly with this team. Earthquake and Rock Slide are standard moves while U-turn helped to gain momentum especially revolving Intimidate, switching in my Kyogre when Bronzong is setting up Trick Room or weather control overall. I might've had Explosion over Superpower if I had Telepathy Palkia but I didn't mind having Superpower since Kangaskhan can be an annoyance to this team especially if it get a Power-Up Punch boost.

Bronzong @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Gyro Ball
- Rest
- Skill Swap  

Bronzong has become one of my favorite Pokemon recently during this time because it was doing really well during this time. A Trick Room setter that does fantastic against Xerneas which is really nicely. The ev spread create an odd hit point stat in order to have 51% after a Super Fang and was built special defensively in order to take hits from Xerneas and Kyogre. Gyro Ball, Skill Swap and Trick Room are common standard moves on Bronzong but Rest was the interesting part about this set. Normally Gravity is used on the last slot but I didn't need Gravity since I don't have Groudon on this team but I guess it could've guaranteed me hitting Hydro Pump, Spacial Rend and Origin Pulse, Protect could've been nice but since I had Lum Berry on Bronzong to help against Smeargle, I decided to put Rest to get some recovery allowing me to possibly set up 2 Trick Rooms in one game.

Common Leads

Against Big 6: 

                             
Gengar + Palkia with (Kyogre and Bronzong)

Gengar + Bronzong with (Kyogre and Palkia)

Gengar + Landorus with (Kyogre and Bronzong)


Against Dual Primal:


Gengar + Palkia with (Kyogre and Bronzong/Landorus)

Thundurus + Palkia with (Kyogre and Bronzong/Landorus)


Against Kyogre Rayquaza:


Gengar + Palkia with (Kyogre and Bronzong/Landorus)

Thundurus + Palkia with (Kyogre and Bronzong/Landorus/Gengar)

Thundurus + Gengar with (Kyogre and Palkia)


Against Kyogre Yveltal:

Thundurus + Palkia with (Kyogre and Landorus)

Thundurus + Gengar with (Kyogre and Palkia)

Gengar + Palkia with (Kyogre and Thundurus)


Against Groudon Yveltal:


Gengar + Palkia with (Kyogre and Thundurus)

Thundurus + Palkia with (Kyogre and Landorus)

How this team plays

The team revolves around getting Palkia into the best position possible with speed control involving Gengar and Thundurus and weather control using Kyogre. The team plays with disrupting the opponent with Thunder Wave, Icy Wind, Will-o-Wisp and gaining momentum with U-turn and being able to get fast knock outs. Preserving Palkia is a priority especially with how many Pokemon are just knocked out by Palkia so reducing the damage and having defensive switch ins with Landorus is great. Also trapping Groudons with the rain up is great to do early game in order to keep rain around for the rest of the game.

Videos:

Jamesspeed1's 1st Spring Season Team (1st Blue Bell Midseason Showdown, 4th Madison Regionals and 7th New England Regionals)

Introduction

It's been a while since I last posted anything on the blog so if you guys forgot who I am, I am James Baek also known as Jamesspeed1. A lot of people have been asking about my team that I have used to top cut multiple events during the Spring and I thought I might as well talk about it just so I don't have to keep talking to people in DMs about it.

Team Building Process

So I think everyone knows about the team referred to as Chalk (Cresselia, Heatran, Amoonguss, Landorus, Kangaskhan and usually a filler commonly Thundurus) in 2015 which was the game defining team of the year and probably the most solid team in general. I wanted to find something that was able to provide the same roles as Chalk from 2015 and I decided not to use variants of the Big 6 teams (Kangaskhan, Salamence, Xerneas, Groudon, Smeargle, Talonflame) because in my opinion, it just isn't as solid. The reasons are that the team doesn't have many reliable switch ins to take attacks and most of the time I have played with Big 6, Xerneas ends up a being a win condition and if you get crit once, its over. 

This was the team I had originally built:

Double genies are always solid and no matter what format their in, they are going to be good. Landorus provides Intimidate support which makes my Pokemon that are already bulky able to take physical hits better, allowing me for some easier set ups such as Trick Room or allowing me to play more aggressive without worrying about taking too much damage. Landorus also helped against Primal Groudon and since Primal Groudon is one of the strongest Pokemon in VGC 2016 if not the strongest, you need multiple answers to keep Primal Groudon in check. The reason I had Landorus over Salamence like I did in previous teams and most teams in VGC using a double mega core is because I wanted to have Intimidate even when bringing Kangaskhan which helped because I could have Fake Out pressure and Intimidate in one battle.

Thundurus is always good, having the ability to Prankster Thunder Wave or Taunt can really just disrupt teams and Thundurus gave me a way to hit Kyogre for some nice damage along with the speed control options. Kangaskhan is still a dominant Mega Pokemon this year for its ability to outspeed a large portion of the metagame, knock out Smeargles who carry Focus Sash, provide Fake Out and to hit hard with a stab normal type attack that hits almost everything in this format hard.

Now Cresselia was a Pokemon I was debating about but in a format where flying type attacks are common with Mega Salamence and Rayquaza along with Xerneas being one of the most popular Pokemon, I felt Bronzong provided a better role. Earlier in the year, I said that Cresselia overclasses Bronzong in either way because of its higher bulk, the fact it can win Skill Swap mirrors in Trick Room, it doesn't get knocked out by any one attack from a Primal, can set up Gravity completely fine against an opposing Groudon,and has a better movepool overall but the things Bronzong had which I really felt for it was its steel typing along with a way to hit Xerneas for some big damage. 

Restricted Pokemon, it felt weird to pick restricted Pokemon last on a team but I already had an idea for the first 4 Pokemon I wanted to use. I picked Groudon to replace Heatran of Chalk for its fire typing, great bulk, typing, ability, can take hits from Xerneas and dish back some heavy damage to Xerneas and the fact it puts on so much offensive pressure. For the last restricted Pokemon, I didn't want to depend on Xerneas and I wasn't liking how a lot of restricted Pokemon didn't fit the team. I was choosing a Pokemon to replace Amoonguss but I didn't need any Amoonguss's roles on this team and no legend can provide Amoonguss's role so I decided to pick Kyogre as my last Pokemon. The ability to provide so much damage, nice resistances and protect my Bronzong with its ability of Primordial Sea.

Blue Bell Midseason Showdown Team

Landorus-Therian @ Life Orb  

Ability: Intimidate  

Level: 50  

EVs: 4 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  

Jolly Nature  

- Earthquake  

- Rock Slide  

- U-turn  

- Protect  

Life Orb is my favorite Landorus set for this season. Unlike Choice Band which provides some nice damage, you don't have to lock yourself into a move and I can put Protect on Landorus which really came in clutch. Earthquake and Rock Slide were nice ways to get some chip damage but U-turn was fantastic. With Dual Primal, U-turn is a great asset to have because one, you can outspeed opposing Primals and U-turn to gain weather control and 2, you can switch after if you're opponent switches into a Primal. The ability to cycle Intimidate to set up Bronzong to Trick Room and U-turn out into a Primal to take advantage of Trick Room and gain the weather control on the turn I set up Trick Room was great.

Thundurus @ Focus Sash  

Ability: Prankster  

Level: 50  

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe  

Timid Nature  

- Thunderbolt  

- Thunder Wave  

- Taunt  

- Protect  

Very standard Thundurus which did its role. Timid max speed Thundurus in order to outspeed base 110's such as Gengar. Taunt was actually pretty useless at the Tournament since I didn't face a Smeargle, the only Xerneas I faced was a Life Orb Close Combat Xerneas in Round 2, and every Amoonguss I faced was Mental Herb. Protect is nice on a frail Thundurus because it allows Thundurus to stay on the field longer combined with Focus Sash.

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite  

Ability: Inner Focus  

Level: 50  

EVs: 84 HP / 172 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 244 Spe  

Adamant Nature  

- Fake Out  

- Return  

- Low Kick  

- Protect  

• Before Mega Evolution: outspeeds max speed Smeargle by 2 points
• Survives Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Low Kick

Nothing more to say about Kangaskhan as one of the most centralizing Pokemon ever since its debut in VGC 2014. The spread is a old spread from my Madison and U.S. Nationals team from 2015 and I like the damage Adamant Kangaskhan provides. Fake Out, Protect Kangaskhan is my favorite Kangaskhan for 2016 because Sucker Punch doesn't do much damage to anything in this format and is the move I click the least in this format when I use standard set Kangaskhan even with Power-Up Punch, its damage isn't that strong after a boost. I used Low Kick just because I wanted to knock out opposing Kangaskhan quickly and Return because I didn't want the recoil from Double Edge on a bulky Kangaskhan.

Bronzong @ Safety Goggles  

Ability: Levitate  

Level: 50  

EVs: 244 HP / 36 Def / 228 SpD  

Sassy Nature  

IVs: 2 Spe  

- Gyro Ball  

- Hypnosis  

- Trick Room  

- Gravity 

• Odd Number HP Stat to have 51% of health remaining after a Super Fang
• Takes the same amount of damage from Kyogre spread moves as max Sp Def

Bronzong vs. Cresselia as I have said before loses to Skill Swap wars so to make sure I would stick with Bronzong and not replace it later on with Cresselia is try out Hypnosis on it. Under Gravity which is a move I execute in almost every battle, Hypnosis becomes 100% accurate and allowed Bronzong to disrupt teams, allow my Pokemon to easily set up or do a lot of damage and allowed it to provide a 100% accurate sleep move like Amoonguss's Spore without the Grass type and Safety Googles drawback. I used Safety Googles to help in the Amoonguss matchup, as I could Hypnosis the Amoonguss and set up Trick Room which is why I have 2 speed ivs to be 1 point faster then minimum speed Amoonguss. Overall I never missed Skill Swap and Hypnosis was a great tech move and if I was desperate, one Hypnosis land outside of Gravity can be a huge turn around. I tried not to do this and only go for Hypnosis outside of Gravity when I didn't lose much from not going for Hypnosis on the turn where if I missed, it wouldn't overall effect the battle or those last chance situations.

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb  

Ability: Desolate Land  

Level: 50  

EVs: 236 HP / 140 Atk / 4 Def / 100 SpD / 28 Spe  

Adamant Nature  

- Precipice Blades  

- Fire Punch  

- Swords Dance  

- Protect  

• Survives Neutral Nature Primal Groudon's Earth Power
• -1 Neutral Nature Primal Groudon's Spread Precipice Blades is a 3 hit KO
• +2 Spread Precipice Blades or 2 Spread knocks out 4 Hp Xerneas
• Speed Creeps no speed Primals

Bulky Groudon is my favorite build for Groudon and I feel like Groudon is a lot like Heatran last year in VGC 2015. Last year people went for fast Heatran and tried to Speed Creep going Timid Max Speed even though it wasn't doing much damage. Everyone from the start of VGC 2016 went Jolly Groudons to speed tie or outspeed slower primals but it doesn't do much damage. I'm not a fan of Fast Jolly Groudon at all. I had a few evs remaining so I put a little extra in Sp Def and speed. Swords Dance is my favorite build because with Gravity, it can just sweep teams and instantly win games. Hypnosis and Trick Room also allowed this Groudon to do its job easier in order to set up and sweep.

Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb  

Ability: Primordial Sea  

Level: 50  

EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 SpA  

Quiet Nature  

IVs: 0 Spe  

- Water Spout  

- Ice Beam  

- Origin Pulse  

- Protect  

• Survives Choice Band or +1 Jolly Dragon Ascent from Mega Rayquaza

Slow Kyogre that was able to take physical hits very nicely and do a lot of damage. Water Spout and Origin Pulse allowed me some nice spread coverage and I loved clicking Water Spout in Trick Room allowing me to pick up some easy and fast kos. Origin Pulse was a backup in case Kyogre was weakened earlier in the battle and I do prefer Water Spout over Thunder just because having a nice accurate Water move that actually does damage.

This team did struggle a bit to Yveltal and a combination of Amoonguss/Parasect paired with Primal Kyogre.

Tournament Performance

This version of the team was able to win a NY Premier Challenge and made Top 4 at the NY Midseason Showdown piloted by Jake Skurchak (@Pokebeys) who helped me test this team in the field.

In Swiss I ended up making Top Cut at X-2 and rematching Chuppa Cross who I had lost to in Swiss at the tournament in Yop 8. After defeating Chuppa, I advanced to Top 4 defeating someone with a Parasect, Scarf Xerneas and Primal Kyogre and finally defeacted Kamikaze in the finals with Rayogre Amoonguss to win the Midseason Showdown where I clinched my Worlds Invite.

Top Cut: https://twitter.com/JamesWBaek/status/723929188416233472

Madison Regionals Team

Ended up going to Madison Regionals and I had not played Pokemon outside of recording for YouTube also did not decide what team I was going to use for the tournament. During the time span between Blue Bell and Madison, Alex Gomez (@Pokealex_) won Italy Nationals undefeated with the team of Kangaskhan, Salamence, Thundurus, Groudon, Kyogre and Cresselia while Krelcroc (@Krelcroc) had gotten 2nd at Korean Nationals with the team of Kangaskhan, Thundurus, Bronzong, Kyogre, Groudon and Salamence. The morning of the tournament, I decided to use my Blue Bell team and replace Landorus with Salamence.

The Team

Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite  

Ability: Intimidate  

EVs: 124 Atk / 132 SpA / 252 Spe  

Naive Nature  

- Hyper Voice  

- Double-Edge  

- Tailwind  

- Protect  

Same Mega Salamence spread that I have used throughout the entire season. I chose Tailwind over Draco Meteor because I wanted more speed control, I never used Draco Meteor and I'm not a fan of Substitute in the mirror match facing a Mega Salamence that can Hyper Voice through the Sub.

Thundurus @ Focus Sash  

Ability: Prankster  

Level: 50  

EVs: 36 HP / 216 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  

Timid Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA  

- Thunderbolt  

- Thunder Wave  

- Hidden Power [Water]  

- Protect  

Same Thundurus except I picked Hidden Power Water over Taunt for the reason that I felt every Amoonguss I would face is Amoonguss and Crafty Shield Smeargle was popular at the time so I dropped Taunt and put Hidden Power Water over Ice because I felt Fast Groudon was more annoying than facing Salamence.

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite  

Ability: Inner Focus  

Level: 50  

EVs: 84 HP / 172 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 244 Spe  

Adamant Nature  

- Fake Out  

- Return  

- Power-Up Punch  

- Icy Wind  

Same Kangaskhan from Blue Bell except with Icy Wind over Protect. I thought Icy Wind was a cool tech move and it helped while facing the Salamence and Thundurus/Amoonguss lead as well as allowing my Primals to outspeed opposing Primals after an Icy Wind since nobody was expecting it. Power-Up Punch was something I put because I never used Low Kick much at the Blue Bell Midseason and it would create a lot more options such as Power-Up Punching myself and a new win condition.

Bronzong @ Safety Goggles  

Ability: Levitate  

Level: 50  

EVs: 244 HP / 100 Def / 164 SpD  

Sassy Nature  

IVs: 2 Spe  

- Gyro Ball  

- Hypnosis  

- Trick Room  

- Gravity  

Same Bronzong from Blue Bell with more defense to take physical hits better.

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb  

Ability: Desolate Land  

Level: 50  

EVs: 236 HP / 140 Atk / 4 Def / 100 SpD / 28 Spe  

Adamant Nature  

- Precipice Blades  

- Fire Punch  

- Swords Dance  

- Protect  

Same Groudon

Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb  

Ability: Primordial Sea  

Level: 50  

EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 44 SpA / 4 SpD / 4 Spe  

Modest Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Thunder  

- Ice Beam  

- Origin Pulse  

- Protect  

I switched up the Kyogre last minute since I had Tailwind, so I changed from Quiet to Modest and put on Thunder since Dual Primal was becoming more popular and I wanted another way to hit Kyogre for damage. I prefer Water Spout but Thunder did its job.

Tournament Performance

Ended up facing some strong opponents and hard matchupsthroughout the tournament facing a lot of Yveltal and Dual Primal. In Round 3 of Swiss, I ended up facing against Zheyuan Huang who I didn't know at the time but had Top Cut Seattle Regionals last week with a protect the deer team. After lunch break Round 4 was against Chuppa Cross who I ended up losing to on stream. To make it into the Top Cut and Day 2, I needed to go X-1 so I couldn't afford a loss and every match I played was an elimination match. I ended up rematching Collin Heier who I faced in the finals of Madison last year and I faced Jon Hu in the last round of Swiss to make Top Cut at Madison. Day 2, I faced off against Alec Rubin in Top 8 and got a really unfortunate lucky break against him but ended up losing to Diana Bros (@eshivgc) after I played really poorly in games 1 and 3. Happy for her for winning the entire tournament though.

Top Cut: https://twitter.com/JamesWBaek/status/734172182088175616

New England Regionals Team

I only played a little Pokemon after Madison Regionals, since there was a one week interval between Madison and New England but I knew what I wanted to change after Madison.

The Team

Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite  

Ability: Intimidate  

EVs: 124 Atk / 132 SpA / 252 Spe  

Naive Nature  

- Hyper Voice  

- Double-Edge  

- Tailwind  

- Protect  

Same Salamence from Madison

Thundurus @ Focus Sash  

Ability: Prankster  

Level: 50  

EVs: 36 HP / 216 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  

Timid Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA  

- Thunderbolt  

- Thunder Wave  

- Hidden Power [Water]  

- Protect 

Same Thundurus from Madison

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite  

Ability: Inner Focus  

Level: 50  

EVs: 4 HP / 172 Atk / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  

Jolly Nature  

- Fake Out  

- Return  

- Power-Up Punch  

- Protect  

• Lives Jolly Low Kick from Mega Kangaskhan

I tried out Jolly Kangaskhan since Kangaskhan's main job is to provide Fake Out and get chip damage to help the rest of my team, I thought it didn't hurt the team if I went Jolly and it allowed me to outspeed Yveltal which is annoying to face. I put Protect back on because I felt Protect was more consistent than Icy Wind and allowed Pup Kang to become more threatening.

Bronzong @ Lum Berry  

Ability: Levitate  

Level: 50  

EVs: 244 HP / 100 Def / 164 SpD  

Sassy Nature  

IVs: 0 Spe  

- Gyro Ball  

- Hypnosis  

- Trick Room  

- Gravity

Same Bronzong from Madison with Lum Berry over Safety Googles anticipating more Smeargle and Big 6 teams than Amoonguss.

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb  

Ability: Desolate Land  

Level: 50  

EVs: 236 HP / 140 Atk / 4 Def / 100 SpD / 28 Spe  

Adamant Nature  

- Precipice Blades  

- Fire Punch  

- Swords Dance  

- Protect  

Same Groudon from Madison and Blue Bell. I might've changed the spread but I don't remember but if I did it was very minor.

Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb  

Ability: Primordial Sea  

Level: 50  

EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 44 SpA / 4 SpD / 4 Spe  

Modest Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Thunder  

- Ice Beam  

- Origin Pulse  

- Protect  

Same Kyogre from Madison

Tournament Performance

Ended up making Top Cut after losing to Enosh S. (@EnoshShachar) in Round 5 to go X-1 in Swiss and losing to the eventual winner Paul Chua (@Blue_Penguin_ ) in Top 8. Congrats to him for taking another Regional Championship and his sister Kylie for getting 2nd in Seniors. Also really proud of my friend Mihrab (@MegaChar10) for winning seniors.

Shoutouts

Jake Skurchak (@Pokebeys) - For helping me test the team.

Alex Gomez (@PokeAlex_) and Krelcroc (@Krelcroc) - For the team ideas and adjustments.

Video Form - Coming Soon!

Tournament Game Analysis Videos - Coming Soon!

Pokemon VGC 2016 Pokemon Analysis #1: Primal Groudon

Stats

HP:	100
Attack:	180
Defense:	160
Sp. Atk:	150
Sp. Def:	90
Speed:	90

Overview 

In Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, we were introduced to Primal Reversions and new Weather mechanics. Groudon was also blessed to receive a new move known as Precipice Blades which is a more powerful Earthquake that only hits your opponent's side of the field. Primal Groudon is an incredible Pokemon even for being a Legendary Pokemon. Primal Groudon gains the Fire Typing in addition to its Ground Type to be a Fire and Ground Type. This might seem weird since it makes Primal Groudon 4x weak to water however it gets a fantastic ability with its Primal Reversion: Desolate Land. Desolate Land makes Water Type attacks useless so Primal Groudon doesn't have to worry about water moves as long as Desolate Land is on the field. In addition, now Primal Groudon gets a boost to its Fire Type attacks from being a Fire Type as well as the boost from Desolate Land to do huge amounts of damage. Primal Groudon gets an incredible buff to its stats, an amazing ability, and the Fire typing for the cost of its item, however it is one of the best Pokemon in the entire game. Its speed stat makes it viable in Trick Room and Tailwind, as well as having fantastic Physical and Special Attack stats to have so much variety since it can be a physical sweeper, special sweeper or a mixed attacker since it has an amazing movepool. It also is great because of its ability to resist Xerneas's Fairy Type attacks and do big damage to Xerneas. It has incredible physical bulk with its base 160 Defense and the only real weakness is its lack of Special Defense. 

Abilities

Desolate Land: Summons Strong Sun. (Increases the power of Fire Type moves by 50%. The following abilities work under Strong Sun: Leaf Guard, Chlorophyll, Flower Gift, Solar Power, Dry Skin and Forcast) Renders Water Type moves useless. This weather lasts until the Pokemon leaves the field. It cannot be removed by regular weathers and moves: Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Sandstorm, Hail, Drought, Drizzle, Sand Stream and Snow Warning. It can be removed however by a Pokemon switching in with the following abilities or having the following abilities activate after Desolate Land: Primordial Sea and Delta Sky. The effects of Desolate Land can be removed if a Pokemon with the following abilities is on the field: Air Lock and Cloud Nine. The weather will go away when the ability is removed by the following moves: Gastro Acid and Cloud Nine. Desolate Land can be reset by the following moves: Role Play and Skill Swap.

A fantastic ability for Primal Groudon which eliminates its Water weakness and increases its Fire Type attacks. The only ability that Primal Groudon gets but the only ability Primal Groudon needs.

Item Selection

• Red Orb: Allows Groudon to undergo Primal Reversion. (Required)

Viable Move Selection

• Precipice Blades: (Ground/120 Power/85 Accuracy/10-16 PP/Spread Move that hits both slots on the opponent's side of the field)

Precipice Blades is a stronger Earthquake with less accuracy that only hits your opponent's side of the field. A super strong move that is probably the best move on a Physical Primal Groudon set. The only reason people wouldn't run this move on a Physical set is the fear of missing.

• Eruption: (Fire/150 Power/100 Accuracy/5-8 PP/Spread Move that hits both slots on the opponent's side of the field) The lower the user's HP, the less powerful this attack becomes.

Eruption is the strongest Fire Type attack that Primal Groudon can learn that hits both of your opponent's pokemon. With Primal Groudon's ability boosting the power of Eruption as well as its new Fire Typing, Eruption is easily going to pick up knock outs or at least weaken your opponent's pokemon a lot when at full power. It is an HP based attack so you have to make sure you keep Groudon healthy.

• Earth Power: (Ground/90 Power/100 Accuracy/10-16 PP/Single Target/10% chance to lower the opponent's Sp Def)

Earth Power is used on Special Groudons and is the strongest Special Ground Type move Primal Groudon gets. It is able to okho most Primal Groudon variants that aren't Specially Defensive and is able to do a lot of damage.

• Earthquake: (Ground/100 Power/100 Accuracy/10-16 PP/Spread Move that hits all slots on the the field)

An accurate but less powerful Precipice Blades however hits the entire field including your ally. Earthquake is best used with a team filled with multiple Flying Types and Pokemon with the ability; Levitate.

• Flamethrower: (Fire/90 Power/100 Accuracy/15-24 PP/Single Target/10% chance to burn the opponent)

Flamethrower is used as the second Fire type attack after Eruption. It doesn't do much damage unless you invest a lot in Special Attack however it is 100% accurate for people who don't like missing Fire Blast or Overheat

• Overheat: (Fire/140 Power/90 Accuracy/5-8 PP/Single Target/Reduces the user's Sp Att by 2 stages)

Overheat is a strong move especially when boosted by Desolate Land and is able to easily okho a Pokemon even non invested in Sp Att. Overheat is only used on Physical or Mixed sets because of the Sp Att decrease.

• Fire Blast: (Fire/110 Power/85 Accuracy/5-8 PP/Single Target/10% chance to burn the opponent)

Powerful Fire Type attack that has a chance to okho non bulky Mega Kangaskhan. Very strong move under Desolate Land and is great on a lot of sets as long as you don't mind the 15% chance to miss.

• Hidden Power Ice: (Ice/60 Power/100 Accuracy/15-24 PP/Single Target)

Hidden Power Ice is a rare move on Groudon but works well on Special sets. It is able to hit Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Landorus and Rayquaza for good damage when they think they are safe from Primal Groudon's Fire and Ground Type attacks.

• Rock Slide: (Rock/75 Power/90 Accuracy/10-16 PP/Spread Move that hits both slots on the opponent's side of the field/10 % chance to flinch the opponent)

Rock Slide is a decent option to hit Flying types however it will not do much damage to most Pokemon in the format but it can change the tide of a battle with one flinch.

• Stone Edge: (Rock/100 Power/80 Accuracy/5-8 PP/Single Target/High Critical Hit ratio)

Stone Edge is a move that will pick up okhos unlike Rock Slide on Pokemon such as bulky Thundurus or bulky Ho-Oh however it requires hitting the move.

• Fire Punch: (Fire/75 Power/100 Accuracy/15-24 PP/Single Target/10% chance to burn the opponent)

The only physical Fire Type move Groudon gets. It hits for decent damage and is able to 2-hit ko a lot of Pokemon in the metagame like Mega Kangaskhan and Xerneas.

• Rock Polish: (Raises Speed by 2 stages)

Being able to double Primal Groudon's speed is amazing as it can catch opponent's by surprise and covers one of Primal Groudon's weaknesses by being slow. Also because Primal Groudon cannot be paralyzed by Thunder Wave, it can be assured to be the fastest thing on the field.

• Swords Dance (Raises Attack by 2 stages)

Swords Dance is a great move for Primal Groudon. This turns a lot of the moves that Primal Groudon uses from 2-hit kos to clean okhos. Most teams that use Primal Groudon use Tailwind and Trick Room as speed control so a lot of people end up making switches or using the move Protect to stall out Trick Room or Tailwind. Primal Groudon can use the situation to set up a Swords Dance and net some kos in the next turn.

• Substitute (Creates a decoy at the cost of 25% of the user's full health)

Substitute is an interesting option where like Swords Dance, you can easily set up one on an opponent's attempt to stall out Trick Room or Tailwind. This also creates pressure by making the opponent having to double target Primal Groudon in order to try and take it out.

• Thunder Wave (Paralyzes the target)

Thunder Wave is a form of speed control mainly for slowing down Xerneas. It can help Primal Groudon outspeed a lot of common threats like Primal Kyogre, Mega Rayquaza, Mega Salamence and Mega Gengar.

• Roar (Forces your opponent's Pokemon to switchout into a random Pokemon in the back)

Mainly used for phasing Pokemon that try to set up such as Xerneas after a Geomancy, Mega Rayquaza and more. Also can phase out Pokemon trying to set up Trick Room.

• Protect (It enables the user to evade all attacks)

Standard move on VGC pokemon.

Less Viable Moves

• Psych Up (Copies the targets stat changes) 

   
      -With Geomancy

• Dragon Pulse (Dragon/60 Power/100 Accuracy/10-16 PP/Single Target) 

      

      -Hits Mega Salamence and Mega Rayquaza

Moves that shouldn't be used in VGC

• Hones Claws

• Iron Head

• Thunder

• Thunderbolt

• Iron Head

• Solarbeam

• Lava Plume

• Hammer Arm

• Toxic

• Dragon Tail

• Power-Up Punch

• Thunder Punch

• Stealth Rock

Sample Sets

• Standard Physical/Mixed Trick Room Set

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb  

Ability: Desolate Land  

Level: 50  

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD  

Brave Nature  

IVs: 0 Spe  

- Precipice Blades  

- Fire Punch/ Overheat 

- Rock Slide / Substitute/ Stone Edge

- Protect  

• Mixed Trick Room Set

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb  

Ability: Desolate Land  

Level: 50  

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA  

Quiet Nature  

IVs: 0 Spe  

- Eruption  

- Earth Power  

- Precipice Blades  

- Protect  

• Standard Special Trick Room Set

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb  

Ability: Desolate Land  

Level: 50  

EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD  

Quiet Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe  

- Eruption  

- Earth Power  

- Flamethrower/ Fire Blast/ Hidden Power Ice

- Protect  

• Fast Special Sweeper

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb  

Ability: Desolate Land  

Level: 50  

EVs: 4 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  

Timid/Modest Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Eruption  

- Earth Power  

- Flamethrower/ Fire Blast/ Hidden Power Ice

- Protect  

• Fast Physical Sweeper

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb  

Ability: Desolate Land  

Level: 50  

EVs: 4 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  

Adamant/Jolly Nature  

- Precipice Blades  

- Fire Punch/ Overheat  

- Rock Slide/ Stone Edge/ Substitute/ Thunder Wave/ Roar

- Protect  

Important Damage Calcs

• 68+ Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades (Double Target) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 102-120 (50.4 - 59.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

• +2 68+ Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades (Double Target) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 202-238 (100 - 117.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

• +2 252+ Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades (Double Target) vs. 252 HP / 108 Def Primal Kyogre: 208-246 (100.4 - 118.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

• 252+ Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades (Singe Target) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Primal Groudon: 192-228 (109 - 129.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

• 252+ Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades (Single Target) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Primal Groudon: 192-228 (92.7 - 110.1%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

• 252+ SpA Primal Groudon Earth Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon: 204-242 (115.9 - 137.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

• 252+ SpA Primal Groudon Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon: 204-242 (98.5 - 116.9%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

• 252+ SpA Primal Groudon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon in Harsh Sunshine: 96-113 (46.3 - 54.5%)

• 252+ SpA Primal Groudon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon in Harsh Sunshine: 96-113 (54.5 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

• 252+ SpA Primal Groudon Eruption (Double Target) (150 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan in Harsh Sunshine: 177-208 (97.7 - 114.9%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

• 252 Atk Life Orb Mega Rayquaza Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Primal Groudon: 203-244 (98 - 117.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

• 252+ SpA Primal Groudon Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 156 SpD Primal Groudon: 174-206 (84 - 99.5%) 

• 252+ SpA Primal Kyogre Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon: 79-93 (38.1 - 44.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

• 252+ SpA Primal Kyogre Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon: 79-93 (44.8 - 52.8%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO

• +2 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Dazzling Gleam (Double Target) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon: 75-88 (42.6 - 50%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO

• +2 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon: 118-139 (67 - 78.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

• +2 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon: 118-139 (57 - 67.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

• +2 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Dazzling Gleam (Double Target) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon: 75-88 (36.2 - 42.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Common Primal Groudon Partners

Cresselia - Cresselia is Primal Groudon's best partner with so many ways to support Primal Groudon. Cresselia can help Primal Groudon move first on the field with Trick Room, boosts the power of Primal Groudon's attacks with Helping Hand, help Primal Groudon hit flying types while increasing the accuracy of Precipice Blades with Gravity and reset Desolate Land with Skill Swap. Skill Swapping Levitate onto Primal Groudon helps Primal Groudon against the mirrors and a Helping Hand Precipice Blades can knock out opposing Primal Groudons. Cresselia also has the ability; Levitate to avoid Primal Groudon's Earthquake if you want to run Earthquake.

Gothitelle/Gothorita - Can do a lot of the same things as Cresselia by setting up Trick Room, using Helping Hand, Gravity and resetting Desolate Land with Skill Swap. The difference are the abilities where Gothitelle can trap opposing Pokemon while Cresselia gets Levitate. Shadow Tag is nice when facing Primal Kyogre as you only need to reset the weather once and spam attacks while not worrying about Primal Kyogre switching out. Another big difference is Gothitelle is able to use Heal Pulse to keep Primal Groudon healthy for Eruption.

Xerneas - Xerneas and Primal Groudon have perfect synergy together as Primal Groudon resists all of Xerneas's weaknesses and can hit for a lot of damage on anything that resists Fairy Type attacks. The combination of a boosted Xerneas and Primal Groudon can easily sweep unprepared teams and give more prepared teams a harder time.

Palkia - Palkia is an interesting pokemon where it can help set up Trick Room and Gravity for Primal Groudon. The main appeal of Palkia is that it resists Primal Groudon's Eruption and takes Primal Kyogre's hits relatively well.

Thundurus - Thundurus offer speed control with Thunder Wave to help Primal Groudon to outspeed opposing Pokemon. Thundurus also gets Prankster Role Play which can help reset the weather against Primal Kyogre as well as get off some decent damage against Primal Kyogre with a Thunderbolt.

Crobat - Offers Tailwind as speed control and combined with Super Fang, Eruption and Precipice Blades can easily get knock outs.

Togekiss - Togekiss carries speed control with Thunder Wave and Tailwind along with Follow Me to help redirect attacks from Primal Groudon. A Choice Scarf Togekiss can also use After You to make Primal Groudon potentially move first with a powerful move such as Eruption.

Liligant - Gains speed from Chlorophyll and has support moves such as Sleep Powder and After You. A nice combination is After You + Eruption to allow Primal Groudon an Eruption before getting hit.

Venusaur - Gains speed from Chlorophyll and also carries Sleep Powder like Liligant or Jumpluff. Venusaur can be used as a fast attacker in the sun and then choose to Mega Evolve when facing Primal Kyogre.

Jumpluff - A fast Pokemon that also gains speed from Chlorophyll. Jumpluff offers great utility with fast Sleep Powders, Rage Powder, Encore and Helping Hand options to support Primal Groudon.

Primal Groudon Checks and Counters

Primal Kyogre - Primal Kyogre is the natural enemy of Primal Groudon negating Primal Groudon's Desolate Land and making its Fire Type attacks useless. However Primal Kyogre must be careful when it comes in because its weather needs to be secure as most Primal Groudon teams will have weather control options but if Primal Kyogre can get one Water Type move on Primal Groudon, its all ogre.

Rayquaza - Rayquaza has the ability Air Lock so even if Primal Groudon has Desolate Land, Rayquaza can still fire off Water Type attacks such as Surf or Waterfall without fail. Also Rayquaza is immune to Primal Groudon's Ground Type attacks and Primal Groudon's Fire Type attacks won't be doing much damage.

Mega Rayquaza - Mega Rayquaza can help by getting rid of Desolate Land and firing off Waterfalls. Just like regular Rayquaza, Mega Rayquaza can take hits from Primal Groudon. Mega Rayquaza can also knock out Primal Groudon with a boosted Earth Power or Draco Meteor.

Palkia - Palkia resists Primal Groudon's Fire Type attacks and can take Primal Groudon's Ground Type attacks decently. Palkia can hurt Primal Groudon with a strong Dragon Type attack or Earth Power.

Giratina Origin - Giratina Origin is immune to Ground Type moves thanks to Levitate and can tank all of Primal Groudon's moves. Giratina can also fire off strong special attacks like Draco Meteor and Earth Power to deal huge damage to Primal Groudon.

Landorus - Either form of Landorus is great to deal with Groudon. Both forms are faster than Primal Groudon have very good chances to okho Primal Groudon with a Life Orb boosted Earth Power. Landorus Therian can help with Intimidate weaken physical attacking Primal Groudon while Landorus Incarnate has a better chance to okho Primal Groudon.

Latias/Latios/Hydreigon - Levitating Dragons are great against Primal Groudon because they are immune to Primal Groudon's Ground Type attacks and resist Fire Type attacks. They can then fire off a strong Psychic, Dark Pulse or Dragon Type attacks to deal a good amount to Primal Groudon.

Swampert - Swampert resists the Fire Type attacks that Primal Groudon can use and take the Ground Type attacks decently. Earth Power is a 2-hit knock out and Swampert can support its teammates with Wide Guard to block Earthquakes, Precipice Blades and Eruptions.