Milwaukee Regionals Top Cut Team Report

Hey everyone - here's the team I used to make top cut at Milwaukee Regionals this past weekend! I was interested in Lunala/Koraidon from an angle of using defensive support Pokemon like Incineroar and Amoonguss rather than offensive ones like Chi-Yu and Ogerpon. Overall I think the team is solid, but it never really came together the way I wanted - it has basically no matchup vs Ice Rider (I lost every game I played against one this past weekend), and there are some other holes as well. I wasn't able to spend much time on it as I instead spent my time learning chess to play in Pogchamps. That being said, it's a solid first stab at the format - maybe y'all can iterate on it in a way that improves it.

Paste: https://pokepast.es/44627675d0e9122b

Rental Code: WGFRH5

Koraidon: I started with Koraidon, as I really like its ability to power up the other protosynthesis Pokemon and control the weather. This Koraidon is slower and tankier compared to my EUIC one, as I found myself using it in Trick Room more often. The extra bulk helped a lot compared to what I was used to. I gave it enough speed to outspeed Zamazenta, with two extra points for speed creep. Ironically, these two extra points cost me the tournament - as I was eliminated because I knocked out my Koraidon due to being two HP short of surviving a Life Orb recoil tick. The attack gets the nature bump and is also the same stat my EUIC Koraidon had, so my knowledge of damage rolls would carry over.

Lunala: I've used Lunala a few times, but it's never really clicked for me. Unfortunately, that's still the case - I find it a frankly baffling Pokemon to use. I was interested in Lunala as it's a restricted that can provide Trick Room, which in theory should help vs Shadow Rider. I was willing to give up Wide Guard for Protect, as Protect synergizes really well with Incineroar and Amoonguss. Power Herb Meteor Beam allows Lunala to KO Incineroar in one hit, which is extremely valuable, as well as do good damage to Pokemon like Farigiraf. However, I'm not convinced that the moves I had were correct in the end. Tera Fairy was chosen to help against Shadow Rider Zamazenta teams, to resist fighting and be neutral to Ghost. Lunala has enough special attack to KO most Ogerpon-Cornerstone at +1 Special Attack with Moongeist Beam. Despite having Trick Room, I chose to run a lot of speed on Lunala, as I wanted to outspeed Koraidon and Miraidon after an Icy Wind or Electroweb - and went a few points higher for speed creep. More bulk would have been nice but I didn't have time to test a slower Lunala before the tournament.

Flutter Mane: I really like Focus Sash Flutter Mane with Koraidon - so I decided to use it again. The reasoning is similar to my EUIC Flutter Mane, though there's two main changes. The first is Taunt over Shadow Ball - while Shadow Ball is great, I didn't think it was necessary, and Taunt helped vs Amoonguss/Brute Bonnet/Trick Room/Terapagos. The second change is going from Tera Normal to Tera Fairy. With Tera Fairy you can KO Miraidon in one hit - and that seemed more valuable to me than Normal as a defensive tera here.

Incineroar: Another carry-over from EUIC, I opted for a more standard Incineroar this time. I wanted it to be really fast in order to be able to outspeed other Incineroar and my own Raging Bolt, allowing me to Parting Shot before Raging Bolt moved, allowing me to bring in Koraidon to activate Protosynthesis. I could also use Incineroar to check if Raging Bolt would be faster than another Pokemon, and vice versa. The remaining points are to maximize bulk, with enough special defense to get a nature bump and the remainder dumped in Defense. Tera Ghost was used as the default, as I didn't have time to see if another Tera Type would be better. I went with the standard moves, adding Knock Off back on over Protect as the addition of Lunala into the format as a main threat made it even better.

Amoonguss: One of the weaker members of the team. While Pollen Puff healing was super nice for Lunala, it was difficult to bring Amoonguss against many of my opponents teams. This is exactly my EUIC Amoonguss with Tera Water > Tera Dark, as I didn't have time to further optimize. I don't know if I ever Terastalized Amoonguss all weekend. I do think Amoonguss can be strong but I think it needs to be used with more intention than I did.

Raging Bolt: I kept losing to Calm Mind Terapagos, so I added Snarl Raging Bolt to help. It was OK - when I could bring it it felt pretty good, but it wasn't bringable in a lot of matchups. This was the other weak link on the team in my opinion. I changed to Tera Bug at 2 AM the night before because I didn't want three Fairy teras and because Bug Tera is better vs Shadow-Rider + Zamazenta. Trained Raging Bolt to survive Calyrex-Ice Glacial Lance, put the remaining points in special attack. I would have liked to find another item to run on Bolt but with Life Orb taken I couldn't find another one in time. Assault Vest is a good item but makes Raging Bolt a little inflexible as it cant protect.

Overall I think the team is solid - not a masterpiece, but not terrible either. I think my top cut finish was actually a bit better than I would get on average, if you play this tournament over and over again. That being said, it's also possible the issue was with my play, as I didn't have time to master the team even a little bit. I think Regulation I is one of the most difficult formats I've ever played - I'm looking forward to learning more and improving in it.