It's Week 1 of the #PokemonChampions mobile release as well as Regulation Set M-B, so there is still much to be discovered. Let's review some top teams! 🏆
This is how much it would cost to train the most common used sets for each Pokémon into the Replica Teams featured here! 💸
It's time for another team report. Today I am featuring a Mega-Raichu-Y team which is similar to the one I used to top cut the biggest Regulation M-B tournament with. The team is unique again and tons of fun.
The Team: https://t.co/34mQAo4k3o
(inspired by Dawei Si's NAIC team)
Raichu:
I think the best Raichu set is one that enables its partners to shine even more. With Lightning Rod as Base Raichus ability, you can switch it into Electro Shot or opposing Raichu to not just protect your Ceruledge or Milotic, but also gain a huge Special Attack Boost. The team wants to boost as much as possible, so having two Fake Out users is essential to break through the Encore lock from Whimsicott. Raichu has the advantage that it is faster than Sneasler and it also threatens some knockouts on key threats like Charizard or Basculegion. Focus Blast is a key move cause it makes the rain matchup really good. Having a move to hit Garchomp or also OHKO Kingambit feels pretty good as well. The investment is simple, yet efficient. Raichu outspeeds Sneasler by one point and the rest is split between HP and Defense. On the special side, it is very valuable to take hits from Archaludon (+1 32+ SpA Archaludon Dragon Pulse vs. 30 HP / 0 SpD Mega Raichu Y: 139-165 (84.2 - 100%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO) or Timid Floette (32 SpA Fairy Aura Mega Floette Moonblast vs. 30 HP / 0 SpD Mega Raichu Y: 147-174 (89 - 105.4%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO). On the physical side there is a lot to survive as well but these are the main ones:
(32 Atk Adaptability Basculegion Last Respects (100 BP) vs. 30 HP / 13 Def Mega Raichu Y: 142-168 (86 - 101.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO),
(-1 32+ Atk Mystic Water Adaptability Basculegion Wave Crash vs. 30 HP / 13 Def Mega Raichu Y: 148-176 (89.6 - 106.6%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO),
(32+ Atk Black Glasses Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 30 HP / 13 Def Mega Raichu Y: 135-159 (81.8 - 96.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO),
(-1 32 Atk Life Orb Garchomp Earthquake vs. 30 HP / 13 Def Mega Raichu Y: 151-179 (91.5 - 108.4%) -- 43.75% chance to OHKO),
(32 Atk Sneasler Close Combat vs. 30 HP / 13 Def Mega Raichu Y: 141-166 (85.4 - 100.6%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO)
Milotic:
Milotic is really strong right now. With a Coil set, physical attackers have a really hard time breaking through it. The main special attackers have a really bad time into Ceruledge though (Floette, ZardY, Venusaur). After setting up Coil twice, you have a perfectly accurate Hypnosis which is really nasty. Protect is a move that is not super common on Milotic but it ensures getting around unfavourable positions such as Encore Whimsicott or when too much damage is on the field. I often lead Milotic with either Incineroar or Raichu to get a safe Coil off and then start putting things to sleep. It also punishes Intimidate users switching in which would otherwise be needed to keep Ceruledge in check. As far as spreads go, I did not do any calcs honestly. I just settled for a Calm nature and went for the first jump point to take a Solar Beam or Light of Ruin slightly better. I also realized that Milotic is quite an important piece into Froslass and Hydreigon, so I am quite happy with the decision. I chose the speed stat of 103 for two reasons. First, outspeeding max speed (Adamant) Kingambit is big to get a Hypnosis / Coil off before they can click Kowtow Cleave. The other reason has to do with Raichu. Against opposing setup teams, it is quite common that Raichu is able to get a Zap Cannon off into Delphox. Paralyzed Delphox hits the same speed stat as Kingambit, 102. Getting the jump on this one has huge upsides as well. The remaining 27 points are all put into Defense to help take physical hits before you have the increased defense.
Ceruledge:
I metnioned it briefly but Ceruledge is incredible against most special attackers. Your plan should always be to have Ceruledge next to a Milotic which got some boosts already. That is the perfect opportunity to setup your Ceruledge because your opponent does not want to go into their Intimidate Pokémon while Milotic is on the field. Shadow Sneak is also a very valuable move into Basculegion and Gholdengo, Pokémon that Milotic could struggle against time wise. Bulk Up is better than Swords Dance because you want your Ceruledge to not leave the field and the Defense boosts matter a ton into Kingambit, Garchomp & Basculegion. Colbur Berry is an amazing item against Kingambit. You can take a Kowtow Cleave or Sucker Punch better and heal back to full thanks to Bitter Blade. It's also quite helpful into Mawile and (Throat Chop) Sneasler. I decided to put a lot of Attack into this Ceruledge to threaten key knockouts quickly. The important ones are +1 Bitter Blade on Kingambit (+1 25+ Atk Ceruledge Bitter Blade vs. 32 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 204-242 (98.5 - 116.9%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO) and +2 Shadow Sneak against Basculegion (+2 25+ Atk Ceruledge Shadow Sneak vs. 2 HP / 0 Def Basculegion: 200-236 (101.5 - 119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO). The remaining 10 points I dumped into defense to take the biggest weaknesses from Ceruledge a little better (-1 32 Atk Life Orb Garchomp Earthquake vs. +1 31 HP / 10 Def Ceruledge: 81-96 (44.7 - 53%) -- 28.52% chance to 2HKO) & (-1 32+ Atk Mystic Water Adaptability Basculegion Wave Crash vs. +1 31 HP / 10 Def Ceruledge: 160-192 (88.3 - 106%) -- 31.25% chance to OHKO)
Incineroar:
Incineroar is important as Intimidate and Fake Out helps this team out greatly. You need Intimidate for Garchomp & Swampert especially. I think both attack moves in Flare Blitz & Throat Chop cannot be dropped. Throat Chop threatens Basculegion while Flare Blitz is needed for Kingambit and Mawile. I focussed heavily on its physical bulk since I realized, I almost exclusively use it for the Intimidate support which means that I am throwing it into mainly physical attacks. Super effective ones are very important to survive, so I settled for the stat to take Mystic Water Wave Crash from Basculegion most of the time (-1 32+ Atk Mystic Water Adaptability Basculegion Wave Crash vs. 32 HP / 24+ Def Incineroar: 180-212 (89.1 - 104.9%) -- 25% chance to OHKO), Close Combat from Sneasler without drops (32 Atk Sneasler Close Combat vs. 32 HP / 24+ Def Incineroar: 168-200 (83.1 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery). Being one point faster than your own Sinistcha is sweet cause that allows you to heal your partner (Raichu, Milotic, Ceruledge mainly) after Parting Shot. The remaining 8 points are dumped into Special Defense to take a few special moves better from Whimsicott, CharizardY, Archaludon and most importantly a Timid Light of Ruin (32 SpA Fairy Aura Mega Floette Light of Ruin vs. 32 HP / 8 SpD Incineroar: 184-217 (91 - 107.4%) -- 43.75% chance to OHKO). 43.75% chances are not something I base my gameplan on cause it's still far too risky but it can come up, so it helps to know that the odds are in my favour.
Sinistcha:
So, we have Intimidate, Double Fake Out and lots of setup. We do not have any recovery though. And this is where Sinistcha comes in. Hospitality and Life Dew are both far too good for this team. Even though Mawile is on the team, I do not recommend running Trick Room. Protect on this composition is essential, so are Rage Powder and Matcha Gotcha. Basculegion can be quite a big threat, so Kasib Berry is the item of Choice. I settled on quite a lot of Special Defense. Sinistcha is a very important piece in the rain matchup, so it made sense to me that I want to survive some hits from Archaludon and a Hurricane from Pelipper (32+ SpA Pelipper Hurricane vs. 32 HP / 30 SpD Sinistcha: 152-182 (85.3 - 102.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO). Another upside is surviving Blizzard from Modest Froslass (30+ SpA Mega Froslass Blizzard vs. 32 HP / 30 SpD Sinistcha: 150-176 (84.2 - 98.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). There is not a lot to say about Sinistcha. You have to indentify in Team Preview if the recovery of Leftovers & Bitter Blade are enough cause in some matchups Sinistcha feels like dead weight instead.
Mawile:
My tournament version had Floette over Mawile but I almost never brought it. Then I realized that I only really lost to Whimsicott + Floette cores, so adding another Fairy resist made a lot of sense to me. I also set myself the rule to use at least two new Regulation M-B Pokémon and since Mawile fit that criteria, I tried it out. It has been pretty decent. The team felt complete to me and Mawile actually addresses the few problems I had (Basculegion sometimes & the aforementioned Fairy spam). This is also why I trained this Mawile heavily in Special Defense. That way it always survives Moonblast into Light of Ruin from Timid Mega-Floette. I have never been a believer of Iron Head Mawile, Swords Dance gives it some sweeping potential which pairs greatly with Double Fake Out + Rage Powder. It still has enough attack to get big knockouts (6+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 32 HP / 0 Def Fairy Aura Mega Floette: 183-216 (101.1 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO) & (+2 6+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 32 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 208-246 (100.4 - 118.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO). I went for Hyper Cutter as ability as I did not want to have two Intimidate Pokémon in a meta full of Contrary / Competitive / Defiant.
Matchups:
vs ZardY Standard - Ceruledge is a key piece here. The threats for it are Garchomp & Basculegion but you can keep those in check with Incineroar or Sinistcha. I often start with Milotic, either next to Ceruledge or Raichu. Ceruledge punishes the WhimFloette lead quite nicely while Raichu is a good shout into Basculegion Whimsicott. You should never bring Mawile in this matchup and decide between Raichu and Sinistcha, whichever you like more.
vs Rain - I usually start off with Incineroar and Milotic to get a Coil off and then start putting everything to sleep with Hypnosis. Sinistcha keeps Swampert in check while Raichu has to deal with Archaludon. You have to time your mega very well (usually when Archaludon is asleep with a count of 0). The biggest problem is that breaking through opposing Sinistcha takes a while but you are still the favoured player in the matchup.
vs Setup - This one feels really nice. You lead with Milotic which makes Incineroar switching in very hard for your opponent. Pair it with Raichu to get a paralysis on Delphox or a direct knockout on Staraptor. You also have a faster Fake Out than Sneasler which is the biggest game changer. I usually bring Ceruledge and Incineroar in the back. Keep in mind that your Raichu + Milotic board is really bad into base Floette spamming Calm mInd while Sinistcha spams Rage Powder because Flower Veil blocks status on it. This is why you need to use Ceruledge to beat Floette + Sinistcha boards and Incineroar can slow the game down with Fake Out & Parting Shot.
Conclusion:
I actually featured how to approach the setup & rain matchups in my latest video. I had no expectations going into the tournament but the team really blew me away. It felt like every matchup was in my favour and the only thing that can stop me is bad RNG. That's the teams biggest weakness. Your opponent gets some opportunities for critical hits, you can miss 80% accurate Hypnosis, sleep turns can change the outcome too. Nonetheless, if everything evens out, this is one of the best teams in the current format!
@Aquesiam2 @BesnardNicolas7@freezecorleone Personne ramène à ça on dit que c’est un prédateur, j’ai le même discours avec jack lang ou avec Depardieu et tout les autres