Hello everyone, my name is Hojae Jeon and I am here to share with you my experience in the third Korean League Championships, where I managed to place top 4 out of more than 80 entrants. First I will explain the details of the 6 Pokemon I used and then I will recap the top cut rounds (I’m not able to remember every detail about the swiss rounds, so I think is better to omit them in this report)
Team Building Process
At the Winter League event, I lost a key match to a Bisharp team and consequently missed top cut. I was quite disappointed and decided to stop playing Moon Series immediately. I quickly moved onto Ultra, which allowed Mega Evolutions, something I have always liked.
At first, I mostly tried to build and play around my favorite Pokémon, Mega Rayquaza, but in the end I ended up trying as much archetypes as I could, like XernDon, XernOgre or YvelOgre. Finally, I felt that the sole restricted that fitted my playstyle was Kyogre, as it allowed me to control the board position way better thanks to its lesser weather dependance compared to Groudon. So I thought I should choose one core and one of the teams I shared in my blog seemed OK.
This is the team I shared back then. It was a standard RayOgre team and was able to switch and play around opponents. I practiced on and on, and Junhee, an excellent Senior player, helped me out as he was using RayOgre too.
I practiced more on Pokémon Showdown, and although I didn’t feel weak to status effects, I was getting critted all day and was dragged down to 1400s. I needed a different approach in terms of prep, and the new way I found was to practice with other Korean players. Each player had their own style and cores, so it was good practice. This helped me more during building and fixing the team.
Looking back, I had lots of people who helped me this tour. So thanks to their help, I almost perfected my team.
The Team
▶️ Get the importable version of the team here!
Tapu Koko @ Electrium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 20 HP / 52 Def / 180 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Thunder
– Dazzling Gleam
– Volt Switch
– Protect
I thought it would lack damage output since I invested some of its EVs in bulk, but it was actually OK. It was good against RayOgre, Salamence, and as Tapu Fini is widely used nowadays, Electrium Z was definitely strong. Farium Z wasn’t so good.
180 SpA Tapu Koko Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 76+ SpD Tapu Fini: 156-186 (88.1 – 105%) — 25% chance to OHKO
180 SpA Tapu Koko Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Primal Kyogre in Electric Terrain: 224-266 (108.2 – 128.5%) — guaranteed OHKO
180 SpA Tapu Koko Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Mega Salamence in Electric Terrain: 205-243 (120.5 – 142.9%) — guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Mega Rayquaza Extreme Speed vs. 20 HP / 52 Def Tapu Koko: 137-162 (92.5 – 109.4%) — 56.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Primal Groudon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 20 HP / 4 SpD Tapu Koko: 133-157 (89.8 – 106%) — 37.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Primal Kyogre Origin Pulse vs. 20 HP / 4 SpD Tapu Koko: 123-145 (83.1 – 97.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO
Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 HP / 6 Atk / 108 Def / 116 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
– Fake Out
– Flare Blitz
– Throat Chop
– U-turn
This was the best Assault Vest set I used. If not in rain, it takes Water Spouts and Origin Pulses, and will take at least two to three hits from anything it resists.
I debated between Snarl and Throat Chop, and concluded Throat Chop was the play. Snarl could stop special Pokémon like Xerneas, Kyogre, and Lunala, as well as attacking Gengar through the Substitute, but if they switch out, it is useless. Lunala can take a Snarl and switch out, putting Tailwind and Trick Room up to make better position.
Using Throat chop allows you to get rid of Lunala quickly, and deals instant damage to Mega Gengar and Ultra Necrozma. Plus, it stops opposing snarl, Hyper Voice, and Roar. Damage output was not so bad. This cat is good on any team.
-1 252 Atk Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 244 HP / 108 Def Incineroar: 84-100 (41.7 – 49.7%) — guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Primal Kyogre Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 244 HP / 116+ SpD Assault Vest Incineroar: 158-188 (78.6 – 93.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Nihilego Continental Crush (160 BP) vs. 244 HP / 116+ SpD Assault Vest Incineroar: 158-188 (78.6 – 93.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
+2 84+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Dazzling Gleam vs. 244 HP / 116+ SpD Assault Vest Incineroar: 76-91 (37.8 – 45.2%) — guaranteed 3HKO
Rayquaza–Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Delta Stream
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Extreme Speed
– Dragon Ascent
– Swords Dance
– Protect
Standard Rayquaza with Focus Sash and Swords Dance. It was the strongest of what I’ve used. Lots of the games went fake out Swords Dance with Incineroar and Ray to sweep through.
+2 252 Atk Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 140 Def Xerneas: 237-279 (101.7 – 119.7%) — guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 244 HP / 0 Def Bronzong: 58-69 (33.5 – 39.8%) — guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252 Atk Mega Rayquaza Extreme Speed vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko: 133-157 (91 – 107.5%) — 50% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 144-169 (87.2 – 102.4%) — 18.8% chance to OHKO
-1 0 Atk Bronzong Gyro Ball (97 BP) vs. -1 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Rayquaza: 51-60 (28.1 – 33.1%) — guaranteed 4HKO
Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 204 HP / 204 Def / 44 SpA / 4 SpD / 52 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Water Spout
– Scald
– Protect
– Ice Beam
It has low rolls against banded Rayquaza and that’s unfortunate. It’s left up to chance, but overall it had stable, strong damage output. Sometimes I needed Origin Pulse, but it misses too much. Scald could catch Stakataka through Wide Guard and burn opponents, so I chose scald and it was a good call in retrospect. Don’t pray for Origin Pulse, use Scald.
252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 204 HP / 204 Def Primal Kyogre: 174-205 (86.5 – 101.9%) — 18.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Tapu Koko Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 204 HP / 4 SpD Primal Kyogre: 162-192 (80.5 – 95.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
+2 84+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 204 HP / 4 SpD Primal Kyogre: 141-166 (70.1 – 82.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
Bronzong @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 70 Def / 188 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 2 Spe
– Gyro Ball
– Safeguard
– Skill Swap
– Trick Room
Bronzong had 2IVs to win Skill Swap speed ties in TR. This I learned through friendly matches. Having this doesn’t affect Gyro Ball damage so much, so it might have been better giving it 4 or so. The item was the biggest problem, and I considered Lum Berry to resist Hypnosis, Nuzzle and set Trick Room, but it was useless. Kasib Berry to resist Lunalium Z was okay, but I thought I could as well just switch out. I was using a Lum Berry, and friends told me Safety Goggles was nice. I felt it was, in fact, good and had extra resistance against Amoonguss, matching up better against Amoonguss-Xerneas. Stakataka was another option, but I guess Bronzong was the play.
0 Atk Bronzong Gyro Ball (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 140 Def Xerneas: 120-144 (51.5 – 61.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO
-1 4 Atk Incineroar Malicious Moonsault vs. 252 HP / 68 Def Bronzong: 128-152 (73.5 – 87.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Primal Groudon Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 68 Def Bronzong in Harsh Sun: 152-180 (87.3 – 103.4%) — 25% chance to OHKO
+2 84+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 188+ SpD Bronzong: 72-85 (41.3 – 48.8%) — guaranteed 3HKO
Amoonguss @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
– Spore
– Clear Smog
– Rage Powder
– Grass Knot
The item was always the problem. Until right before the registration, I was considering Wiki and Payapa Berry. But Suwoong Cheong told me Wiki is better so I went with that. But I think Payapa would have been better. I think if I used Payapa, I would have used Amoonguss more during the series. Coba and Sitrus could be nice too. I also tried Shed shell, which Suwoong introduced me to, but I think berry is better overall. Amoonguss puts immense pressure on Kyogre and Xerneas, spores everything in Trick Room, and gives help switching Pokémon around. I used it much in practice but during the tourney, I didn’t use it so much.
-1 76 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Amoonguss: 186-218 (84.1 – 98.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Wiki Berry recovery
+2 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 156+ SpD Amoonguss: 98-116 (44.3 – 52.4%) — 19.9% chance to 2HKO after Wiki Berry recovery
252+ SpA Primal Kyogre Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 156+ SpD Amoonguss: 132-156 (59.7 – 70.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Wiki Berry recovery
The main problem of this team is none other than Dialga. As you can see I don’t have anything able to hit it hard and if I’m not cautious it could become a big problem. It can stay on the field as much time as it wants, and the variants with Leftovers could remain even longer.
Furthermore, it is usually is accompanied by other partners such as Kangaskhan and Salamence, who support it well and makes the matchup even more complicated.
Tournament Run
Top 16 vs 
Jeongeun Lee | WW
Game 1:
He led with Incineroar + Mimikyu against my own Incineroar and Rayquaza. It seemed rather than using fake out, u-turning to bring out Kyogre was better.
So I went Protect U-turn. Opponent used Fake Out on Rayquaza, U-turn hit into Mimikyu, bringing Kyogre out, and Trick Room was set. Next turn I switched Rayquaza to Incineroar, and Incinium Z hit my Kyogre, but I was able to stand it easily and scald Incineroar to knock it out. Mimikyu went for Destiny Bond, and it was quite unusual to see d-bond TR Mimikyu these days. After Trick Room was finished, my opponent had Kyogre Fini and I had Koko Ray. Electrium Z finished Fini through light screen and Rayquaza set Swords Dance, winning the game.
Game 2:
ElectriumZ in the late game KO’d Stakataka and that was crucial. A crit happened and I was sorry for that but he told me that he used Brave Stakataka without much investment in special defense. He cheered me for games to follow, which was heartwarming.
Top 8 vs Jeonggyu Choi | WW
It was yet another match with a top player and I felt nervous, but acted bold.
Game 1:
The opposing team seemed weak against Kyogre, so if not for Necrozma, Kyogre-Bronzong looked like a win condition. I led again with Incineroar and Rayquaza in response to his Necrozma and Tapu Lele, which was obviously scarfed Magic Room variant. I switched around a bit and went for Gyro Ball the turn Necrozma used Trick Room. After that, Skill Swap + Water Spout finished off the game. Necrozma did not have Earth Power, so switching around Incineroar was easy.
Game 2:
Leads were the same, and I was able to dodge a Ultranecrozium Z into Ray with an Incineroar switch in. That pretty much finished the game as I positioned my late game Kyogre-Bronzong set up. Bronzong is the best.
Top 4 vs SpringsVGC | LL
I always wanted to battle him, but didn’t expect it at top 4.
Game 1
I needed to knock out the Togedemaru with Flare Blitz quickly, and sweep through with Rayquaza. I repeated the same lead than in the past two sets (Incineroar and Rayquaza) against his dangerous Togedemaru+Kyogre lead. But bold Swords Dance was a pain, and paralysis + Icy Wind could not be stopped. Maybe using Koko instead of Amoonguss might have been nice, but whatever.
Game 2:
Again, I feared Togedemaru much and I thought about lead with Amoonguss instead of Incineroar and Rage Powder + Swords Dance, but he did it well changing his leads (this time he started with Incineroar and Rayquaza) and I didn’t stand a chance. Icy Wind was unstoppable and banded Ray shooting Dragon Ascent killed all my Pokémon, leading to another loss. After all I regret not using Koko this time as well.
Closing words
So that’s all my run at the tournament! Thanks for all my friends for helping me prepare this tour. I’ll try my best at the Finals. Also congrats to the runner-up, who won justly and thank you all for reading. See you next time!
