Combined Fleet Girls Collection - Angel Miranda's VGC 2015 Regional Teams.

Hello everyone! It's Angel Miranda and with the World Championships around the corner, I thought I was overdue with posting some of the teams I had success with this season. This report will feature the 3 teams I took to the Regional Championships ever since ORAS was introduced into the format. I hope you guys enjoy.
[Editor's note: Opinions stated in this report reflect Angel's thoughts prior to the US National Championships]

Operation: Virginia Regional.

February 15^th, 2015

Result: 7-2 Swiss,  16^th Seed going into top 16.

4^th Place Finish.

Kangaskhan ♀ Kangaskhanite **Haruna
Ability: Scrappy → Parental Bond
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Return
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Protect

 

"Fast battleship, Haruna, reporting for duty. You're the admiral, correct? I'm looking forward to serving with you."

Not gonna lie this spread is awful. I took the first Kangaskhan I could find in my game that had a good speed stat and ran with it. I think Protect + Power-Up Punch Kangaskhan fits best with redirection, and is something I've used for awhile. Fake Out doesn't offer as much as people might think and in my opinion, Protect works best when trying to keep Kangaskhan in play as long as possible. The same logic also applies to Double-Edge—I want to keep Kangaskhan around as long as I can and Double-Edge's recoil defeats the purpose of that.

Clefairy ♀ @Eviolite **Yuudachi<3Poi
Ability: Friend Guard
Nature: Bold
EVs: 204HP | 252Def | 12Sp.atk | 36Sp.def | 4 Speed
- Follow Me
- Helping Hand
- Protect
- Moonblast

“I'm Yuudachi, the fourth ship of the Shiratsuyu class. I worked really hard during the Third Battle of the Solomons, didn't I poi? By the way, why am I so scared by the term "Ironbottom Sound?"

The Pokémon everyone wants to know about, Clefairy. Although I didn't have the best reasons for using it, Clefairy turned out to be my favorite Pokémon in this entire format. Follow Me + Friend Guard may seem redundant at first but the fact that Friend Guard helps reduce damage against spread moves and allows more aggressive play without risking much is a great thing. Clefariy can sit there and use Helping Hand while not worrying about its partner taking too much damage. The EV spread is something Simon optimized. It survives Jolly Mega Metagross Iron Head and the Special Attack investment allows Moonblast to KO 4 HP Hydreigon. I think redirection is one of the most powerful concepts in the game and Friend Guard lets Clefairy take that to the next level. I've seen too many players undervalue Clefairy and I'm not too sure why—I consider it by far the most potent redirection Pokémon in the format.

Terrakion @Lum Berry ** Hiei
Ability: Justified
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 20HP | 228 Attack | 4 Def | 4 Spdef | 252 Speed
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide
- Protect
- Swords Dance

“I'm Hiei, Kongou Onee-sama's sister. I'm looking forward to gaining experience and getting closer to my sister's brilliance.”

For the most part a standard Terrakion. Simon created the spread which lets it survive 4 SAtk Rotom-W Hydro Pump. I ended up going with Swords Dance on this set since it made the most sense with Clefairy. Double Kick was redundant with Kangaskhan on the team, Taunt was fairly useless since anything I would use it against usually carry Mental Herb, and not enough scenarios came up to make Stone Edge worthwhile. Swords Dance really made a difference as it single-handedly won me my Round 9 match which would decide if I'd make it into Top Cut or not. I never thought once that I needed a different move in that slot. Although Terrakion performed well that day, I believe it was mostly because other players did not make great teams at the time nor did they respect Terrakion enough. I don't really see myself using it again this format.

 

Suicune@Sitrus Berry. ** Shimakaze
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Bold
EVs: 212 HP | 4Def | 212 Sp.atk | 44Sp.def | 36 Speed
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Tailwind
- Snarl

“I'm Destroyer Shimakaze. When it comes to speed I'm the best there is, swift like the island breeze!”

No idea what this spread does to be honest. I took the spread from Zach and didn't really question it. I liked having a lot of Special Attack investment because I did not want Suicune to sit around and do nothing. I think the spread always makes Scald a 2HKO against 4 HP Bisharp and Ice Beam an OHKO against Zach's Landorus. Despite that, Suicune was the worst member of the team. Even with all the offensive investment, Suicune still ended up being dead weight and didn't accomplish much. It was purely a Tailwind bot and I don't even think Tailwind is that good in the first place. However, Suicune did assist me in my Top 8 match against Wolfe Glick but I can't help but feel this slot could've been used for something better. I think Suicune and Tailwind are both super underwhelming.

Aegislash ♀ @Weakness Policy ** Sendai
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 252HP | 100Sp.atk | 156sp.def
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- King’s Shield
- Wide Guard


 

“Sendai has arrived. Please leave the night battle to me.”

Aegislash was something I felt really under-prepared for and it showed at regionals. It sports, in my opinion, the best typing in the game and has insane stats to go along with it. I used Collin Heier's Worlds 2014 spread because the bulk was pretty important for surviving certain attacks and letting Weakness Policy go off. Wide Guard was great for preventing Landorus-T from cheesing wins off me and helped against other spread moves like Sylveon's Hyper Voice. Weakness Policy was also cool in that I could Scrappy Power-Up Punch my own Aegislash with Kangaskhan and get a free +2 with Aegislash and a +1 with Kangaskhan. This particular play prevented an opposing Dusknoir from setting up Trick Room in one of my games. Another one of my favorite Pokémon in the format.

 

Rotom-H@Life Orb **Kongou
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252Sp.atk | 252Speed | 4HP
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
- Hidden Power [ice]

 “It's the English-born returnee, Kongou! Nice to meet you!”

Rotom-H was something I was using on almost every team. It was my Fire-type of choice as it beats other Fire-types, namely Charizard and Heatran. Life Orb boosted Overheat puts out tons of pressure and Hidden Power Ice gets the KO on Salamence and Landorus provided I have Tailwind up, Aegislash next to Rotom, or when it doesn't get flinched. The spread is really simple. Do as much damage as possible. I orignally had enough to outspeed Breloom but I figured I might as well use max speed to creep everything else trying to creep Breloom. This set felt great and the lack of bulk never really bothered me, but as time went on Rotom-H stopped doing as much as I wanted it to. I don't really think I would use this set at this point in time.

Conclusion: The team was really fun for the time. I think it's pretty outdated now and probably won't be as effective as the metagame shifts. Suicune was by far the worst member of the team and I would easily replace it if I had to go back to this.

Operation: Massachusetts Regional

May 17^th, 2015

Result: 5-3 Swiss
31^st place.

Clefairy ♀ @Eviolite **Prinz Eugen.
Ability: Friend Guard
Nature: Bold
EVs: 204HP | 252Def | 12Sp.atk | 36Sp.def | 4 Speed
- Follow Me
- Helping Hand
- Protect
- Moonblast

“Oh! You surprised me! I, German-born heavy cruiser, Prinz Eugen! Admiral Hipper class, third ship. With big sister Bismarck, I took part in Operation Rheinübung. Lucky fleet ... really? I will keep fighting in this sea too!”

Not really much to say here. This is the same Clefairy I used for most of the season at this point. My opinion on it hasn't changed either. I considered Icy Wind over Moonblast but I liked having another way to KO Hydreigon.

 

Azumarill@Sitrus Berry ** I-8 Hachi <3
Ability: Huge Power
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 244HP | 252attack | 12 Speed
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Belly Drum
- Protect

 

“Guten Tag ... ah, my mistake... sorry, please call me ‘hachi’.”

Azumarill ended up being a Pokémon I liked recently. The Belly Drum set puts out so much pressure in team preview. If my opponent doesn't respect Clefairy + Azumarill they will get steamrolled by it, but at the same time if they have answers to it they are forced to lead them. When paired with Clefairy my opponent is forced to try and power through Clefairy in order to get to Azumarill and if they can't, Azumarill will run a train through them. Clefairy's Friend Guard also helps keep Azumarill from being taken out of Sitrus Berry range by spread moves.

 

Thundurus@Life Orb **Z1
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP | 252Sp.atk | 252 Speed
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Sky Drop
- Protect


 

“Good morning. I'm Leberecht Maass. Lebe is fine, yep.”

Offensive Thundurus is something I've enjoyed using almost all year. Its speed tier is pretty amazing as it outspeeds Gengar, Latios, and Mega Metagross and chunk them with Thunderbolt and Hidden Power. Sky Drop is a tech I tried after Simon tried to counterteam my Clefairy teams. For those who don't know, Sky Drop ignores redirection. You can Sky Drop the partner of the Pokémon using Follow Me/Rage Powder or better yet Sky Drop the Pokémon using Follow Me/Rage Powder. By doing the latter, the effects of the redirection move is negated, allowing your partner Pokémon target the opponent's other Pokémon. This is very important to answering Mega Kangaskhan + Clefariy. Sky Drop was also used to buy Azumarill a turn to set up a Belly Drum or help protect it for a turn against threats such as Mega Venusaur.

Landorus-T@Expert Belt **Z3

Ability: Intimidate

Nature:  Adamant

EVs:  12 HP | 156 Attack | 92Defense | 244Speed

- Earthquake

- Superpower

- Rock Slide

- Protect

“Good day. I am the Destroyer Max Schultz. But, Max is fine. Pleased to meet you.”

Landorus-T is weird to me. I think Choice Scarf is super overrated and only good at stealing wins with Rock Slide flinches—outside of that, it's really underwhelming. I wanted a Landorus-T that could use Protect since it becomes a big target and I also wanted to switch up moves because it's really easy to pin down when choice-locked. The EV spread allows it to always survive a +1 Life Orb Sucker Punch from Bisharp and outspeeds Timid Heatran. The item was a toss-up between Yache Berry and Expert Belt. Expert Belt makes Superpower an OHKO against Kangaskhan and there were hardly any scenarios where I'd let my Landorus take an Ice-type attack. Overall this Pokémon is still awkward to me. I've tried Assault Vest, Choice Scarf, and Choice Band and none of them were appealing to me. I'm not sure if I'll give Landorus-T another chance this season. Hopefully someone else finds something else to do with Landorus-T besides Rock Slide and pray.

 

Gengar@Focus Sash **U-511
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4HP | 252 Sp.Atk | 252Speed
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
- Protect
- Will-o-Wisp

“I'm the... German Navy U-Boat, U-511. I worked hard to come here. If I could be friends... with everyone... and get acquainted with this place's culture... I think that'd be nice.”

Gengar was something Chuppa brought to my attention in anticipation for Kangaskhan + Clefairy being popular. The set is pretty simple—burn physical attackers and Taunt the Clefairy. I wanted Protect over Sludge Bomb/Icy Wind because there too many times where Gengar is targeted down and being frail as it is, Protect became a necessity. I ended up not facing any Kangaskhan + Clefairy teams and I rarely brought it to games but it did its job whenever I did decide to bring it along. Gengar felt pretty average though.

 

Metagross@Metagrossite **Bismarck
Ability: Clear Body --à Tough claws
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 60 HP | 252Attack | 4Def | 4Sp.def | 188speed
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt
- Protect


 

“It is I, the pride of Deutschland, the nameship of the Bismarck super dreadnoughts. Germanic designs are just beautiful and dignified, no? It's alright, you can praise me more. I shall be operating far and wide throughout this ocean. You can expect much from me!”

Metagross was something I was never really sold on. It was always "almost" there. It has fantastic coverage but doesn't really get as many KOs as I'd like. For example, Zen Headbutt doesn't OHKO Mega Venusaur or most Amoonguss even with an Adamant nature. It also needs Meteor Mash to get the OHKO on Clefairy. Though a nice thing is that Helping Hand Meteor Mash KOs Mega Kangaskhan. Earthquake was for the Heatran that Clefairy + Metagross baits in, and gives Metagross a way to touch Bisharp and Aegislash. Overall Metagross is still pretty mediocre and I'm not sure what else I can do to make it more appealing. Using Jolly nature gives it a mediocre damage output and its coverage will always be lacking in some way whether you go with Ice Punch, Hammer Arm, and Earthquake or just go with Substitute. It 2HKOs a lot of the metagame which is good but is also walled by a good portion of the metagame (namely, other Steel-types) which makes it easy to get put in a bad position.


Conclusion: Overall the team was solid but not spectacular. The Metagross and Landorus-T slots were the biggest issues I had with the team and I'd look into changing those slots if I were to ever come back to this team.

Operation: Georgia Regional

May 31^st, 2015

Result: 7-1 Swiss, 2^nd Seed going into Top 16
3^rd Place Finish

 

Salamence@Salamencite **Taihou
Ability: Intimidate --> Aerialate
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 52 HP | 140Attack | 4Def | 108Sp.def | 204 Speed
- Return
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Protect

 

“I'm the Armored Carrier, Taihou. I'm the newest and most advanced standard carrier that is armed to the flight deck. Aren't these enclosed hangars great?“


This is the Salamence I used all the way back in January but replaced Roost with Earthquake to hit Heatran and other Steel-types. I got this spread from Blake Hopper and tweaked the speed a bit. I don't recall what the defensive investment was for but the speed lets it creep past max speed Thundurus and a little more. Double-Edge felt contradictory to the bulk so I stuck with Return and never looked back. Earthquake was really nice in that it gave me a spread move and something to hit Heatran with which came up a couple of times. The main reason I liked Salamence was because I felt offensive Flying-type coverage is really good right now and it's one of the few that don't have to deal with recoil.

 

Amoonguss@Rocky Helmet **Yuugumo
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Bold
EVs: 184 HP / 236 Def / 84 SpD / 4 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Protect

“1st ship of the Yuugumo-class, Yuugumo, has arrived. Admiral, it's okay to spoil me a bit.”

I felt not enough players were using Safety Goggles so Amoonguss felt really strong right now. Amoonguss was also really good against bulky Water-types that just sat around and hoped they could find something weak to Ice-type attacks. Though a weaker form of redirection than Clefairy, Amoonguss was a better fit against combinations such Ias Cresselia + Rhyperior which I felt I would be playing at Georgia. I ran into 3 of those teams and Amoonguss definitely pulled its weight. The spread is something Simon gave me for a PC a week prior so I'm not really sure what it does outside of surviving Jolly Mega Metagross Zen Headbutt 15/16 times.

 

Tyranitar@Chople Berry **Nagato
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP | 68 Attack | 180 Defense | 4 Sp.def | 4 Speed
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Crunch
- Protect

“I am Battleship Nagato, pleased to meet you. Leave the enemy battleships to me.”

Before anything this spread isn't the best. Since I was up at 4 AM making spreads for this team I didn't realize the Nugget Bridge Damage Calculator doesn't calculate Parental Bond against Chople Berry properly. This spread was intended to survive Adamant Low Kick from Mega Kangaskhan accounting Chople Berry but that isn't correct. However, this spread happens to survive +1 Rhyperior Earthquake which did come into play at regionals. I would probably drop some of the bulk for more attack. The item on Tyranitar is pretty filler as I just wanted Tyranitar to come in and stay around to keep sand up. I also considered using Smooth Rock and Tyranitarite. Choice Scarf is also an option but I dislike scarfed Pokémon in general and felt it wouldn't fit with how I wanted to play the team. Bulky Tyranitar became something I was very pleased with even though the spread was far from perfect.

 

Landorus-I@Life Orb ** Choukai
Ability: Sand Force
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4HP | 252sp.atk | 252 speed
- Earth Power
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [ice]
- Protect

“4th of the Takao-class ships, Choukai. Deployed to Malaysia, Solomon, Marianas and Leyte Gulf for many operations. My name is now given to a JSDF AEGIS-equipped escort vessel, 4th in its class.”

Ah, good ol' Landorus-I. This was my favorite Pokémon during the 2012 VGC season and it found its way back into my heart this format. I didn't like the Excadrill sand teams that have been winning recently as I found Excadrill really underwhelming. Landorus-I helped improve my Landorus-T match-up as it can OHKO with Hidden Power Ice. In addition, Landorus-I can outspeed and KO Charizard with Stone Edge. I think special Ground-type attacks are pretty underappreciated right now. There are many successful teams going around right now with triple Ground-type weaknesses and players try to bandage that up by using Wide Guard which Landorus-I obviously bypasses. Though not having access to Sheer Force hurts, Landorus-I can still do a decent chunk of damage without a sand boost which is really nice since it doesn't making bring Tyranitar a necessity for it to function. Landorus-I definitely pulled its weight and I'm very happy with its performance.

 

Azumarill@Sitrus Berry ** I-8 Hachi <3
Ability: Huge Power
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 244HP | 252attack | 12 Speed
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Belly Drum
- Protect

 

“Guten Tag ... ah, my mistake... sorry, please call me ‘hachi’.”

The same Azumarill I used at Massachusetts. Belly Drum is still the best set in my opinion. I don't think the Assault Vest set is particularly threatening nor does it bring anything to the table.

 

Aegislash@Leftovers ** Sendai
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Modest
EVs: 204 HP | 252Sp.Atk | 52 Speed
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Flash Cannon
- King’s Shield

“Sendai has arrived. Please leave the night battle to me.”

A completely different Aegislash than I what I used back in Virginia. This is essentially the set I used for most of 2014. Once again, I felt like players weren't respecting Aegislash enough, especially one that can hide behind a Substitute. Substitute can become a win condition on its own if the opponent doesn't have enough Aegislash checks. I invested some points into Speed so it could outspeed other Aegislash and possibly catch a few Sylveon off guard by outspeeding ones that didn't heavily invest for Tailwind. This quickly became the MVP for the tournament. Most of the teams I faced only had Charizard as their real Aegislash "check" and my team has quite a few Pokémon that can easily get rid of Charizard for Aegislash to win the game on its own.

Conclusion: This team was very fun and easily one of my favorites of the year. A well protected Bisharp or Milotic could give me some troubles but no team is perfect. If I were to change anything it would be the Tyranitar EV spread and possibly I'd consider giving it a Mega Stone to have the 'Double Mega' option than can completely shut down Charizard. I think it might be harder to use this type of team at Nationals since everyone should be preparing for sand, but the team was fantastic for the tournament I took it to.