This team got started the day before the tournament as Biosci and I were waiting for Angel to figure out where our room was. Before going into the tournament, I knew that I wanted to use Mega Kangaskhan and Blaziken. However, we decided that I needed an answer to the Mega Charizard-Y + Landorus-T combo, so I added Choice Band Gyarados. Then we thought redirection would be good so we added Clefable. Someone suggested Hydreigon and then that was added. Afterwards, I realized that the team was weak to Sylveon so I added Aegislash.
Seriously, that was my team building process. It’s really terrible but it worked extremely well. After that we just decided on spreads.
Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 52 HP / 196 Atk / 60 Def / 4 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch
- Return
- Sucker Punch
• Survives an Adamant -1 Mega Kangaskhan Low Kick
• Outspeeds Adamant Landorus-T by 2 points
• The rest was dumped into Attack
Kangaskhan was by far the best Pokémon on my team. She basically carried me through all of my matches, covering for my awful type coverage and giving great neutral damage. I chose Power-Up Punch and Return because those moves give Kangaskhan the most offensive pressure, especially with Clefable. I was actually able to use Power-Up Punch in my very first game by targeting my own Hydreigon in order to KO a Mega Gyarados. I can’t recommend it enough.
Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 40 Atk / 220 SpA / 244 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
• Outspeeds Adamant Landorus-T by 1 point, outspeeds Adamant scarf Landorus-T after a speed boost.
• OHKOs all Mega Kangaskhan up to 252 HP (40 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 213-252 (100.4 - 118.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO)
• OHKOs most Landorus-T and definitely the spread that survives +1 LO Bisharp Sucker Punch
• OHKOs 4 HP Mega Salamence
Blaziken was excellent when I was practicing, putting pressure on opponents and OHKOing things. The day of the tournament, not so much. I brought it a very small number of times—when I did it didn’t provide much pressure. My team didn't have a good matchup against bulky waters and Blaziken did very little to help against them, however I think it's a Pokémon that more people should look into. Hasty might be a better nature to decrease damage taken from Scalds.
Clefable @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 28 SpA / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Follow Me
- Helping Hand
- Protect
• Survives Bisharp Iron Head
• Survives Aegislash Flash Cannon
• OHKOs 4 HP Landorus-T
This Clefable has the same spread as Angel's. It was absolutely excellent the day of the tournament. Clefable has various tricks to help out its teammates—Ice Beam gives it the ability to put pressure on Landorus-T, Follow Me to protect my Kangaskhan and Hydreigon from bulky waters, and Helping Hand to help Hydreigon get OHKOs on Pokémon like Aegislash.
Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 44 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 204 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
• Outspeeds Jolly Landorus-T
Hydreigon was probably my second best Pokémon during the tournament. It did so much damage it was unreal. The speed investment was also nice as I faced a max speed Jolly Landorus-T, and it was extremely helpful to have Hydreigon outspeed it. I didn’t face many Sylveon which made it easier to bring the three headed dragon. I would definitely use it again, no question.
Gyarados @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
• Outspeeds Adamant Landorus-T
• OHKOs it most of the time -1 252 Atk Choice Band Gyarados Ice Fang vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 160-192 (96.9 - 116.3%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
Gyarados was interesting. It did exactly what I wanted it to. It KO’d Landorus-T once, and did a ton of damage to everything with Waterfall. It also was MVP in terms of critical hits and flinches (It landed 3 crits and a flinch, most of which were super helpful.)
Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Atk / 4 Def / 92 SpA / 68 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Iron Head
- Wide Guard
- King's Shield
• OHKOs 4 HP Terrakion with Iron Head
• OHKOs 4 HP Landorus-T with +2 Shadow Ball
• Survives a Rotom-H Overheat 15/16 times
Aegislash got burned, which was sad. I have no real complaints about this set, but I can’t really judge it. I didn’t face any of the Terrakion or Sylveon that were brought, so Iron Head wasn’t necessary. It probably ended up hurting me in my match against Omegadonut, as I was unable to use Flash Cannon on his Scrafty, which might have given me the win. Overall, it did what it was supposed to do: be Aegislash and Wide Guard or KO things.
In the end, there were a couple of big issues with the team that I noticed. The first was that I had no real answer to bulky waters (Suicune and Milotic), which can cause a ton of issues. The second was a mediocre answer to Venusaur + Gengar. Also, if you watched the stream, I had poor answers to Scrafty.
Top 8 vs Aaron (@CybertronVGC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giIJNQpY494
Losers quarters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NctlzpMQ7R0
Thanks for getting my Pokemon Caleb Ryor (@BlitznBurst)
