VGC [Series 11] I can't see what's wrong with this team

[Unbreakable]

First off, it's 3-6 on the ladder, but that's a lie. Two of those wins were by forfeit after I got a surprise KO, I've yet to break 1100. I actually played the team after building and before posting here, which is apparently what you're supposed to do with these things. Usually I built and then immediately ran here to see what super obvious thing I was missing. All EV spreads and natures were auto-suggested, I have no clue what they do.

Calyrex-Ice @ Assault Vest
Ability: As One (Glastrier)
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Glacial Lance
- High Horsepower
- Body Press
- Pollen Puff

I wanted the sheer snowballing power of Calyrex-I in trick room, so that's where I started with my team. A shame that Glacial Lance is a spread move so it can get wide guarded, maybe sub in Avalanche? I like Pollen Puff here because it's a Heal Pulse that can work through Assault Vest, but in practice it tends to be fodder for behemoth blade. Body Press is a great move that works off of its substantial defense and can turn into Max Knuckle to ramp the attack even higher

Pelipper @ Mago Berry
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Hydro Pump
- Roost
- Tailwind

My most frequent max target because of max airstream. Hurricane's confusion chance in rain has given me a few chances as well. As for the rain support, I thought it would help Calyrex-I and Rillaboom against fire spammers like charizard and entei. I forgot that with dynamax being a thing, it's basically gen 5 all over again with the weather wars.

Dracovish @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Strong Jaw
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- Draco Meteor

It looks like a revenge killer, and that's because it is. I don't really need band to realize heavy damage with mr. fish. The other benefit is I can't be choice locked while maxed, so I can get some interesting effects rolling...again, if I remember to bring and max it. I'm not very good at this.

Rillaboom-Gmax @ Life Orb
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Fake Out
- U-turn
- Protect

All the cool kids seem to be doing it. My first actual win by KO with this team came when I remembered that I could gmax this guy and use the max bug move for extra coverage. It tends to get yawned, but it punches holes when I think to bring it. Might bring it more often, most likely. Life Orb is here because Grassy Terrain helps it heal off the recoil.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Analytic
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 12 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Substitute
- Tri Attack
- Trick Room

Pretty standard P2 set. I went with Foul Play and Tri Attack to try to avoid a situation where P2 was all I had left and it was too passive to pull out a win. Due to all the gamesmanship involved with Download, I went with Analytic instead. The problem is that P2 declares Trace or Download when it hits the field, so if neither trigger you know it's Analytic. I'm also not sure how Analytic interacts with TR.

Rhyperior @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Solid Rock
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rock Slide
- Body Press
- Drill Run
- Protect

Both of my ragequits involved this mon getting a surprise kill. I'm pretty sure they would have won had the game been played out, but still. I'm guessing Coalossal works much the same way. I chose rock slide for the higher PP and more reliable accuracy, Body Press is once again chosen for coverage, but Drill Run has been the star. With it I can tank a Behemoth Blade and ohko Zacian-C right back.

Play examples:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021series11-1446575306 1100 ranking and I felt like I couldn't touch him. there were a couple spots where I fell all the way down to 1000.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021series11-1446450392 I started to lose hope after this defeat. This is why I named myself Unbreakable all those years ago, but I had no idea it was going to be THIS hard.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021series11-1446574159 surprise
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021series11-1446595520 my first actual win after 10+ tries.

I'm thinking I should just blow it up and start all over, but my tutor has been less available than I would prefer. Who knows, maybe it's salvageable.

 

[Evelyie]

This team feels very weak to the current meta situation. Allow me to help ya.


Calyrex-I requires the appropriate support to go against the metagame. It's a strong pick and I'll keep it, of course.
Set should be Glacial Lance / High Horsepower / Trick Room / Protect, holding a Weakness Policy


Mimikyu > Porygon2
Mimikyu is the go-to Trick Room setter together with Caly-I. It's a great option, better then P2 imo
Shadow Sneak / Will-O-Wisp / Trick Room / Taunt


Tapu Fini > Pelipper
You are never maxing Pelipper. Fini also provide Caly-S support against status which is poggers
I prefer the supportive set but you can also run Calm Mind here


VenuKoal > Rillaboom and Dracovish
The sun core provide you means to deal with threats such as Zacian, while Caly-I counters Landorus-T with its Ice-type STAB
Use the TR sweeper Torkoal with Eruption, Burning Jealousy and Earth Power.


Landorus-T > Rhyperior
Landorus-T checks Zacian and Venusaur better then Rhyperior does, plus it offers you means to boost Caly-I. Lum Berry is prefered but you can opt for Life Orb and AV

Other options:
- You can change Mimikyu for Dusclops
- Redirection could be interesting
- The sun core could be replaced but I think it is a great fit

Take everything with a grain of salt, hope I helped!

 

[Unbreakable]

I'm not sure Caly-I is worth keeping after I did this damage calc using S10 sets:

+1 156+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Calyrex-Ice Rider: 176-210 (85 - 101.4%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Calyrex-Ice Rider: 186-222 (89.8 - 107.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

Given that my original idea was Zacian-C for my restricted to leave the dynamax slot free, this leaves open the chance of getting one shot while dynamaxed and I'm not liking this. Maybe add a babiri berry or something.

 

[Evelyie]

I'm not sure Caly-I is worth keeping after I did this damage calc using S10 sets:

+1 156+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Calyrex-Ice Rider: 176-210 (85 - 101.4%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Calyrex-Ice Rider: 186-222 (89.8 - 107.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

Given that my original idea was Zacian-C for my restricted to leave the dynamax slot free, this leaves open the chance of getting one shot while dynamaxed and I'm not liking this. Maybe add a babiri berry or something.

You need to have proper control of the game. Against Zacian-C, it's a high-risk indeed, but set the TR and Max Quake it once and you OHKO it

 

[Unbreakable]

You need to have proper control of the game. Against Zacian-C, it's a high-risk indeed, but set the TR and Max Quake it once and you OHKO it

So what you're saying is that I shouldn't give up just yet, I just need to learn to play around zacian-c and venukoal should help me with that? I figure with as low as I am on the ladder, it's such an obvious threat that I need to have a plan for it before TP. I did think about intimidate support, but running damage calculations isn't second nature to me yet. I think I know why Inci only runs 4 or 12 atk on most sets now and why you opted for lando-t as a zacian check as a result.

252 Atk Incineroar Flare Blitz vs. 156 HP / 4 Def Zacian-Crowned: 168-198 (89.8 - 105.8%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

 

[Helios of Sun]

This team feels very weak to the current meta situation. Allow me to help ya.


Calyrex-I requires the appropriate support to go against the metagame. It's a strong pick and I'll keep it, of course.
Set should be Glacial Lance / High Horsepower / Trick Room / Protect, holding a Weakness Policy


Mimikyu > Porygon2
Mimikyu is the go-to Trick Room setter together with Caly-I. It's a great option, better then P2 imo
Shadow Sneak / Will-O-Wisp / Trick Room / Taunt


Tapu Fini > Pelipper
You are never maxing Pelipper. Fini also provide Caly-S support against status which is poggers
I prefer the supportive set but you can also run Calm Mind here


VenuKoal > Rillaboom and Dracovish
The sun core provide you means to deal with threats such as Zacian, while Caly-I counters Landorus-T with its Ice-type STAB
Use the TR sweeper Torkoal with Eruption, Burning Jealousy and Earth Power.


Landorus-T > Rhyperior
Landorus-T checks Zacian and Venusaur better then Rhyperior does, plus it offers you means to boost Caly-I. Lum Berry is prefered but you can opt for Life Orb and AV

Other options:
- You can change Mimikyu for Dusclops
- Redirection could be interesting
- The sun core could be replaced but I think it is a great fit

Take everything with a grain of salt, hope I helped!

Some notes I would like to add onto the comments by Evelyie.

Depending on the core, Mimikyu isn't necessarily better than Porygon2 here. For example, if you decide to go with Venusaur and Torkoal as a seperate 'sweeper mode', Porygon2 Venusaur is still a very strong and versatile lead that demands a lot of respect. If you decide to go this route, going Life Orb on Calyrex-Ice is a good idea, because you no longer have an easy way to proc your Weakness Policy.

Additionally, I don't really like the idea of a Landorus-T here as a Zacian/Venusaur check, because it does not really provide any value to the team otherwise. I prefer Incineroar, a way to allow Porygon2 to easily set up Trick Room with Fake Out / easily pivot out to a Trick Room sweeper using Parting Shot, which could make the game difficult for an opponent fairly quickly.