Oh hey! I’m back with another VGC 2020 team report, this time on a team I built for the Series 5 metagame. Series 5 brought a lot of changes to the metagame that I’m sure we’re all aware by now, and this was a team designed to beat those new metagame threats. Gyarados is one of the few offensive Pokemon that could beat both Cinderace and Rillaboom while having one of the best Dynamax attacks in Max Airstream, and better yet Gyarados hadn’t caught on yet making it a great anti-meta pick. Since I knew I wanted to use Gyarados, I decided to look for inspiration from a Series 4 team I had built that intended to sweep with a Dynamax Moxie Gyarados under Tailwind, with a Helping Hand Rhydon for support. The team link is here and while clearly this was a gimmick, with Alolan Marowak making a return in the Isle of Armor I figured that I could create something similar but with a more viable Pokemon. Unlike Rhydon, Alolan Marowak would provide an offensive threat itself and meant that if I could build a strong anti-meta core around Gyarados and a Trick Room core around Marowak, I could have a versatile team that could switch up it’s game plan based on the match up. The first part of this team report will talk about the anti-meta core I decided on (because in all honesty it’s more interesting) with the last part discussing the Trick Room core.
Gyarados @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Power Whip
- Protect
As stated Moxie Gyarados proved itself to be a great anti-meta pick as Cinderace, Rillaboom, and Incineroar all have difficultly keeping Gyarados in check. Set is a pretty standard for a sweeping Dynamax Gyarados, this Pokemon as stated earlier has a sweet spot in the metagame and alongside Urshifu Gyarados can further handle Togekiss, Coba Berry Amoongus, Torkoal in Drought, Dragapult and Tyranitar as well (although in the case with Tyranitar it’s just better to use Close Combat with Urshifu). A lot of times being able to get a Speed boost with Max Airstream and a Moxie Attack boost can win a game outright turn 1, making Gyarados a great option to grind the ladder with. Other viable lead options include leading with Indeedee as a way to beat Venusaur. This team can struggle against Sun a lot, and I find that the best way to beat Sun is just apply pressure on Venusaur with both Gyarados and Indeedee since Sleep Powder can only nullify one of the threats and an Airstream + Expanding Force puts us ahead if Venusaur Gigantamaxes.
Urshifu-Gmax @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unseen Fist
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Coaching
- Close Combat
- Wicked Blow
- Sucker Punch
This Urshifu is pretty standard except for the surprise tech Coaching. Gyarados struggles a lot with breaking Dragapult as well as Tyranitar leads, and the Dark type Urshifu proved to be a useful answer to both. A lot of Tyranitar might Protect Turn 1 to trigger Weakness Policy off a Max Geyser, but Urshifu’s Unseen Fist ability shuts down that option. My thought process with Coaching was that it allows a Gyarados + Urshifu lead to beat a Togekiss lead or Coba Berry Amoongus lead, since a +1 Airstream from Gyarados could easily OHKO bulky Follow Me Togekiss, Coba Berry Amoongus and 2HKO a Dynamax Togekiss. As a result, Urshifu acts as a great offensive support mon that can both answer threats and do damage while providing support in match ups where it might be useless. I also found other weird uses for Coaching as well, including acting as a way to preserve Alolan Marowak outside of Trick Room if that was the wincon or preventing Sun teams or Intimidate cycling from mitigating Gyarados’s damage output. Coaching isn’t without downsides however, as I have found it makes Urshifu a lot weaker to Fake Out and can make playing through Incineroar cycles challenging.
Indeedee (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Hyper Voice
- Mystical Fire
- After You
Finallly, this Indeedee is offensive anti-meta tech, undoubtably. Indeedee-M offers terrain control and as we’ll see later I did not need another support Pokemon with Indeedee-F. Choice Scarf has been a surprise factor that can cheese wins alone since Generation 4, and this set takes advantage of an opponent not having complete information regarding speed. Even with knowledge of the Scarf, Expanding Force spam is pretty good on it’s own but mitigating special attackers with Mystical Fire or gaining surprising speed control with After You can lead to crazy scenarios. You have not lived until you have After You’d an Alolan Marowak to OHKO a Dynamax Dragapult with Poltergeist before it even attacks. After You is also effective for setting up Trick Room before a potential Taunt, and the Psychic Terrain is phenomenal at preventing Fake Outs from disrupting us. Furthermore, the utility of Psychic Terrain makes Indeedee phenomenal in crippling Rillaboom or Prankster strategies which in my opinion is vital for a successful Trick Room team in a Rillaboom format. Indeedee is absolutely one of the more versatile members on this team, since I find myself bringing it both when I lead Gyarados and when I use the Trick Room option. However, typically I won’t bring Indeedee unless it’s actually countering something my opponent is doing.
With the faster, anti-meta mode established the Alolan Marowak back up plan needed to be developed, and luckily there was a fairly popular Trick Room core built around it in the form of Amoongus and Porygon-2 which meant that speed control for the team could be easily covered. I ended up adopting this core onto my team as it not only allows us to be versatile in team preview, Amoongus and Porygon2 also cover weaknesses for the team such as opposing Trick Room and Beat Up strategies. Furthermore Gyarados + Urshifu have enough firepower to push through slower, bulkier teams while teams like Tailwind or Hyper Offense could be trapped by the Trick Room mode easily in the late or early game.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SpA / 12 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Recover
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
This Porygon2 is more offensive than usual, and this is primarily due to my team lacking offensive pressure under Trick Room besides Alolan Marowak. BoltBeam has good coverage, but be careful not to be an idiot like I have been many times and click Thunderbolt with Alolan Marowak on the field because it will get sucked in by Lightning Rod. Thunderbolt is still the best option however, since it is vital for beating stuff like Corviknight or bulky Waters like Milotic. Honestly with a Special Attack boost this Pokemon is sometimes worth dynamaxing itself. Besides just being a Trick Room enabler, Porygon2 is also a great late game Pokemon even for the Gyarados leads and can either finish off teams that can’t break it or use late game speed control to turn momentum in our favor if our opponent is an Airstream or two ahead of us.
Amoonguss @ Coba Berry
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Pollen Puff
- Protect
This Amoongus is physically defensive, mostly because I wanted to be able to invalidate other Urshifu and take hits from Dragapult better. Otherwise fairly standard stuff, Pollen Puff is phenomenal at keeping Alolan Marowak or Porygon-2 healthy in Trick Room. Hell, Amoongus can even keep a bulked up Gyarados even harder to take down and stop general Beat Up or Weakness Policy type shenanigans from occurring. Similar to Indeedee I don’t really bring Amoongus unless I need it to counter something my opponent is doing or if I’m going hard Trick Room during a game. Redirection and sleep is just really good, not much else to say on this one.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Poltergeist
- Bonemerang
- Protect
The Trick Room sweeper of the team but also Gyarados support, Alolan Marowak isn’t the best Trick Room Pokemon but on this team it synergizes very well since After You Indeedee can provide more opportunities to bring it. After You on Indeedee keeps this Pokemon relevant even against faster threats, and the bulk is fine enough that even if not moving first it can possibly get a hit in. Playing towards an Alolan Marowak + Porygon 2 endgame is also not uncommon for this team, and there are plenty of Pokemon that just can’t break either or those Pokemon or contest a late game Trick Room. Other fun Marowak things include absorbing potential Thunder Waves that might ruin our sweeping plan, stopping Fake Outs from breaking our Urshifu’s Sash, having two immunities we can switch Max attacks on, and amusing out speeding opposing Trick Room Pokemon like Hatterene or Amoongus if we can reverse the Trick Room.
Bad match ups for this team included Sun and Incineroar control teams as already mentioned. Venusaur Sleep Powders can be crippling for a team based on a Turn 1 Dynamax or Trick Room set up, and a lot of times I’m forced to lead Gyarados + Indeedee just to put as much pressure on Venusaur as possible. Incineroar can sometimes be a problem depending on the team composition. If the Incineroar is on a team with threats like Cinderace, Dragapult or Rillaboom we’re usually still okay since the Coaching + Moxie and Wicked Blows are usually able to counter Intimidates. However, Incineroar on teams using Bulk Up Corviknight or a G-Max Lapras or Goodra can be a bit trickier since we likely aren’t getting the necessary Moxie boosts to keep Intimidate in check.
Overall I’ve had a blast playing this team, most of my losses felt like pilot error or a bad lead match ups more than anything else. There’s a good amount of power to just runaway with a game and good amount of tech and versatility to keep games interesting when playing. I haven’t tested the team in a Best of 3 scenario, but I would imagine it does fairly well with it’s ability to switch playstyles. Thank you for reading, I’ll attach proof of making Top 15 on Showdown ladder as well as the in game team code and pokepaste. Best of luck in the Players Cup everyone!
Pokepaste
Gyarados @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Power Whip
- Protect
As stated Moxie Gyarados proved itself to be a great anti-meta pick as Cinderace, Rillaboom, and Incineroar all have difficultly keeping Gyarados in check. Set is a pretty standard for a sweeping Dynamax Gyarados, this Pokemon as stated earlier has a sweet spot in the metagame and alongside Urshifu Gyarados can further handle Togekiss, Coba Berry Amoongus, Torkoal in Drought, Dragapult and Tyranitar as well (although in the case with Tyranitar it’s just better to use Close Combat with Urshifu). A lot of times being able to get a Speed boost with Max Airstream and a Moxie Attack boost can win a game outright turn 1, making Gyarados a great option to grind the ladder with. Other viable lead options include leading with Indeedee as a way to beat Venusaur. This team can struggle against Sun a lot, and I find that the best way to beat Sun is just apply pressure on Venusaur with both Gyarados and Indeedee since Sleep Powder can only nullify one of the threats and an Airstream + Expanding Force puts us ahead if Venusaur Gigantamaxes.
Urshifu-Gmax @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unseen Fist
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Coaching
- Close Combat
- Wicked Blow
- Sucker Punch
This Urshifu is pretty standard except for the surprise tech Coaching. Gyarados struggles a lot with breaking Dragapult as well as Tyranitar leads, and the Dark type Urshifu proved to be a useful answer to both. A lot of Tyranitar might Protect Turn 1 to trigger Weakness Policy off a Max Geyser, but Urshifu’s Unseen Fist ability shuts down that option. My thought process with Coaching was that it allows a Gyarados + Urshifu lead to beat a Togekiss lead or Coba Berry Amoongus lead, since a +1 Airstream from Gyarados could easily OHKO bulky Follow Me Togekiss, Coba Berry Amoongus and 2HKO a Dynamax Togekiss. As a result, Urshifu acts as a great offensive support mon that can both answer threats and do damage while providing support in match ups where it might be useless. I also found other weird uses for Coaching as well, including acting as a way to preserve Alolan Marowak outside of Trick Room if that was the wincon or preventing Sun teams or Intimidate cycling from mitigating Gyarados’s damage output. Coaching isn’t without downsides however, as I have found it makes Urshifu a lot weaker to Fake Out and can make playing through Incineroar cycles challenging.
Indeedee (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Hyper Voice
- Mystical Fire
- After You
Finallly, this Indeedee is offensive anti-meta tech, undoubtably. Indeedee-M offers terrain control and as we’ll see later I did not need another support Pokemon with Indeedee-F. Choice Scarf has been a surprise factor that can cheese wins alone since Generation 4, and this set takes advantage of an opponent not having complete information regarding speed. Even with knowledge of the Scarf, Expanding Force spam is pretty good on it’s own but mitigating special attackers with Mystical Fire or gaining surprising speed control with After You can lead to crazy scenarios. You have not lived until you have After You’d an Alolan Marowak to OHKO a Dynamax Dragapult with Poltergeist before it even attacks. After You is also effective for setting up Trick Room before a potential Taunt, and the Psychic Terrain is phenomenal at preventing Fake Outs from disrupting us. Furthermore, the utility of Psychic Terrain makes Indeedee phenomenal in crippling Rillaboom or Prankster strategies which in my opinion is vital for a successful Trick Room team in a Rillaboom format. Indeedee is absolutely one of the more versatile members on this team, since I find myself bringing it both when I lead Gyarados and when I use the Trick Room option. However, typically I won’t bring Indeedee unless it’s actually countering something my opponent is doing.
With the faster, anti-meta mode established the Alolan Marowak back up plan needed to be developed, and luckily there was a fairly popular Trick Room core built around it in the form of Amoongus and Porygon-2 which meant that speed control for the team could be easily covered. I ended up adopting this core onto my team as it not only allows us to be versatile in team preview, Amoongus and Porygon2 also cover weaknesses for the team such as opposing Trick Room and Beat Up strategies. Furthermore Gyarados + Urshifu have enough firepower to push through slower, bulkier teams while teams like Tailwind or Hyper Offense could be trapped by the Trick Room mode easily in the late or early game.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SpA / 12 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Recover
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
This Porygon2 is more offensive than usual, and this is primarily due to my team lacking offensive pressure under Trick Room besides Alolan Marowak. BoltBeam has good coverage, but be careful not to be an idiot like I have been many times and click Thunderbolt with Alolan Marowak on the field because it will get sucked in by Lightning Rod. Thunderbolt is still the best option however, since it is vital for beating stuff like Corviknight or bulky Waters like Milotic. Honestly with a Special Attack boost this Pokemon is sometimes worth dynamaxing itself. Besides just being a Trick Room enabler, Porygon2 is also a great late game Pokemon even for the Gyarados leads and can either finish off teams that can’t break it or use late game speed control to turn momentum in our favor if our opponent is an Airstream or two ahead of us.
Amoonguss @ Coba Berry
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Pollen Puff
- Protect
This Amoongus is physically defensive, mostly because I wanted to be able to invalidate other Urshifu and take hits from Dragapult better. Otherwise fairly standard stuff, Pollen Puff is phenomenal at keeping Alolan Marowak or Porygon-2 healthy in Trick Room. Hell, Amoongus can even keep a bulked up Gyarados even harder to take down and stop general Beat Up or Weakness Policy type shenanigans from occurring. Similar to Indeedee I don’t really bring Amoongus unless I need it to counter something my opponent is doing or if I’m going hard Trick Room during a game. Redirection and sleep is just really good, not much else to say on this one.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Poltergeist
- Bonemerang
- Protect
The Trick Room sweeper of the team but also Gyarados support, Alolan Marowak isn’t the best Trick Room Pokemon but on this team it synergizes very well since After You Indeedee can provide more opportunities to bring it. After You on Indeedee keeps this Pokemon relevant even against faster threats, and the bulk is fine enough that even if not moving first it can possibly get a hit in. Playing towards an Alolan Marowak + Porygon 2 endgame is also not uncommon for this team, and there are plenty of Pokemon that just can’t break either or those Pokemon or contest a late game Trick Room. Other fun Marowak things include absorbing potential Thunder Waves that might ruin our sweeping plan, stopping Fake Outs from breaking our Urshifu’s Sash, having two immunities we can switch Max attacks on, and amusing out speeding opposing Trick Room Pokemon like Hatterene or Amoongus if we can reverse the Trick Room.
Bad match ups for this team included Sun and Incineroar control teams as already mentioned. Venusaur Sleep Powders can be crippling for a team based on a Turn 1 Dynamax or Trick Room set up, and a lot of times I’m forced to lead Gyarados + Indeedee just to put as much pressure on Venusaur as possible. Incineroar can sometimes be a problem depending on the team composition. If the Incineroar is on a team with threats like Cinderace, Dragapult or Rillaboom we’re usually still okay since the Coaching + Moxie and Wicked Blows are usually able to counter Intimidates. However, Incineroar on teams using Bulk Up Corviknight or a G-Max Lapras or Goodra can be a bit trickier since we likely aren’t getting the necessary Moxie boosts to keep Intimidate in check.
Overall I’ve had a blast playing this team, most of my losses felt like pilot error or a bad lead match ups more than anything else. There’s a good amount of power to just runaway with a game and good amount of tech and versatility to keep games interesting when playing. I haven’t tested the team in a Best of 3 scenario, but I would imagine it does fairly well with it’s ability to switch playstyles. Thank you for reading, I’ll attach proof of making Top 15 on Showdown ladder as well as the in game team code and pokepaste. Best of luck in the Players Cup everyone!
Pokepaste
Attachments
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