Hey all! Here's the team I used in the Victory Road tournament along with an explanation for the choices.
Export: https://pokepast.es/287b8b5e54888c06
Teambuilding theory:
I started with Specs Typhlosion + Sunny Day Whimsicott with the goal of overwhelming my opponents with choice specs eruption in the sun. I then decided I wanted a trick room mode with Pokemon that could also work in tailwind, so I added Ursaluna-BM who excels at this as well as Farigiraf. I added Clefairy for support as it worked with both modes, and Annihilape as a physical attacker that could hit Pokemon like Kingambit and Tyranitar.
Whimsicott: I knew I wanted both Sunny Day for Typhlosion and Beat Up for Annihilape Rage Fist, so Covert Cloak made the most sense as I wouldn't be able to afford Protect. I chose Tera Dark to help with prankster encore and taunt as well as for a decent neutral defensive typing. I trained Whimsicott to be very defensive, allowing it to survive Specs Gholdengo Make it Rain after a tera as well as most Archaludon Flash Cannon. Enough speed to outspeed opposing Annihilape, rest in defense. The glue of the team that really tied the different parts together.
Typhlosion: With Choice Specs I think all the choices are the most obvious ones. Eruption is your main attack, Shadow Ball is your best ghost option, heat wave is better at low HP. The last move is personal preference - flamethrower is more consistent, I went with Overheat for more damage. Max speed, max special attack, no reason to run bulk. Tera Fire for more damage and turning off your ghost and dark weaknesses. Frisk doesn't do anything in Open Team Sheet so Blaze is better.
Ursaluna-BM: These are the most consistent moves on Ursaluna as Hyper Voice gives you spread damage, Blood Moon gives you burst damage, and Earth Power is coverage. Protect is mandatory IMO to keep it alive. Life Orb gives both power and flexibility. Trained Ursaluna to be as strong as possible, fast enough to outspeed Garchomp in tailwind, and put the rest in HP.
Annihilape: Normally Annihilape run Safety Goggles or Sitrus Berry but I thought Assault Vest could work as the additional special bulk makes it really hard to remove and with Whimsicott having Covert Cloak, I had two Pokemon immune to Fake Out which made me feel like Protect was less necessary. Drain Punch and Rage Fist were givens - I went with close combat for a stronger burst option and Final Gambit as a delete button. Final Gambit was my main plan against Trick Room teams and Dondozo teams. Tera Fire is useful to resist strong spread moves like Eruption and Make It Rain and also makes Annihilape burn immune. It's also useful vs Volcarona who otherwise could be a bit tricky. I trained Annihilape to outspeed Gholdengo (Modest), gave it enough HP to KO Pokemon that had Kingambits health and below, and put the rest in attack.
Clefairy: Clefairy was able to provide unique support for the team and really shore up its weaknesses. Friend Guard and Eviolite make it more valuable than Clefable on this team, especially with the lower speed stat. Follow Me and Helping Hand provided valuable team support, and Protect was needed too. I chose After You as the last move as a way to fight against slower Trick Room teams if I wasn't able to prevent them from getting it up. Tera Steel was chosen because it's the best defensive type in the game and I wanted resistances to as many types as possible. The EVs don't do anything specific, I just maximized general bulk - you could probably improve them if you wanted.
Farigiraf: One of my personal favorite mons, I knew I needed to use offensive Farigiraf because otherwise I wouldn't have enough damage. Throat Spray is my personal favorite set, I think it's very strong. These moves are in my opinion all necessary on offensive Giraffe - there's no real room for anything else. I chose Tera Dragon as a way to resist Typhlosion-H Eruption, who could give my team problems otherwise. The EVs aim to be fast enough to outspeed base 100 speed Pokemon in tailwind while remaining one point slower than Ursaluna, hitting the special attack stat I'm used to, and then surviving tera steel choice specs Make it Rain from Gholdengo.
Overall the team felt really strong and of my three losses, only one felt like a matchup where I was at a disadvantage. I think if I'd had more time to practice with the team I could have gone even further. I hope you enjoy using it!
Ian Lee
2024-09-14 00:44:46 +0000 UTCWolfe Glick
2024-09-11 15:01:57 +0000 UTCBrad
2024-09-11 14:32:06 +0000 UTCSasquatch
2024-09-11 06:19:16 +0000 UTCdeku.xo
2024-09-10 14:43:54 +0000 UTCShaun Godly
2024-09-10 14:28:42 +0000 UTCShaun Godly
2024-09-10 14:27:43 +0000 UTCdeku.xo
2024-09-10 01:23:07 +0000 UTCH
2024-09-09 18:10:46 +0000 UTCguga
2024-09-09 16:55:57 +0000 UTCWolfe Glick
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2024-09-09 05:28:18 +0000 UTCMiguel Olivardia
2024-09-09 00:23:47 +0000 UTCWolfe Glick
2024-09-08 23:21:28 +0000 UTCSilver Gordillo
2024-09-08 22:40:41 +0000 UTCLucas Lira
2024-09-08 21:06:25 +0000 UTCAlex Altman
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2024-09-08 16:14:53 +0000 UTCJames
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