Hello, everyone! My name is Alessio Fuscà aka NikyuAlex, and I’m the creator of the Terapagos + Comfey + Dragapult team that you might have seen around recently.
With this team I got a Top 128 at the North American International in New Orleans but most importantly a Top 8 at the Bologna Special Event after a 15-0 in Swiss, which happened to be a first time in Pokémon VGC.
Today I want to share with you guys a report of the team and explain step by step the reasons behind every decision that I made.
Table of Contents
Teambuilding process
VGC Regulation Set G is a Restricted format, in this case with a single Restricted Pokémon available for each team, so most of the times the teambuilding phase starts with one of these Pokémon and in my case I choose Terapagos. I loved it from day 1 because I consider Tera Starstorm the best move to ever exist in Pokémon VGC – it’s not single target, so you don’t have to make the right call on who protects and who doesn’t; it’s powerful; but most importantly, it’s neutral against everything and super-effective if it hits a Terastallized Pokémon.
A move that punishes the gimmick mechanic of a Pokémon game, does it sound familiar? Of course it does, Behemoth Blade had a huge impact in the Sword & Shield era because of this trait, and Tera Starstorm is pretty much the same thing in Scarlet & Violet, ignoring the type chart in Pokémon… but Terapagos is also huge for Tera Shell, which turns every damage into a not very effective one if full HP, and Teraform Zero that removes terrains and weathers from the field. The format is full of very strong Restricted Pokémon; most of them won more majors than Terapagos did, but somehow, in the Final or even just in Top 4, Terapagos always has been up there, and until the end of Regulation Set G I don’t think I’ll change my pick in that sense.
When I play single-Restricted metagames, I like to make that Restricted my pillar and base every detail of the team on making the most out of it. I wanted to start by replicate what I’ve done in Sword & Shield Series 8 with my Zygarde + Comfey team, so I decided to pair Terapagos with Comfey, which is in my opinion one of the most underrated Pokémon of the format. When you see it on screen it’s easy to think about a Pokémon with low defensive potential, it definitely doesn’t look like a tank, but if you check the stats it’s actually pretty decent defensively, definitely not easy to get rid of. Comfey fits so well with Terapagos – it heals it with priority with Floral Healing thanks to Triage, which a lot of times actually recharges the Tera Shell, and it’s also good offensively against some treats such as Mienshao, Urshifu and Koraidon. Draining Kiss with Triage is as underrated as Comfey itself, but it deals very interesting damages, and after one or two Tera Starstorms, it might happen that Draining Kiss is enough to close a knockout (it happened in my featured match at the Day 1 of the Bologna Special!).
I continued the teambuilding phase with Rillaboom, which is another perfect fit. Not only it’s a great supporter for Terapagos – Fake Out, recovery granted with the terrain and repositioning – but it also boosts Floral Healing, which makes Terapagos much more difficult to get rid of. The only downside is that, when you bring Rillaboom in a game, you of course have to pay attention to when the right moment to Terastallize Terapagos is, because when you do you remove the Grassy Terrain. I also did some testing without Rillaboom, but in the end I kept it in the final team.
Incineroar entered the team pretty soon; originally I had Focus Sash Chi-Yu, and probably, if I have to make a change, it will be Chi-Yu itself on Incineroar, but in the final team I kept Incineroar to have Intimidate, Parting Shot and, most importantly, Will-O-Wisp (which was in Chi-Yu’s moveset anyway). Incineroar gave me more consistency against the Flutter Mane + Chi-Yu duo – it’s good to have Protect + Parting Shot in those kind of situations, especially if one of them has to lock in something due the effect of a choice item. Incineroar did a great job along the way, so it’s definitely a valuable option in this slot – and in general, we are talking about the greatest support of all time after all, aren’t we?
The next Pokémon is the clear example of a common dynamic of teambuilding in Pokémon VGC, which is to underestimate a pick just because you are not using it properly. To have a better understanding of what I’m saying, there’s the section below with the spreads and movesets, but for now I can tell you that Wellspring Mask Ogerpon was the weak ring of the team but, with two changes, became the absolute MVP.
Here we are again, back to back in a team report of mine there’s a Dragapult. This time it’s a different one, we’ll see the build soon, but I am so happy that I had the chance to make it shine again under my name. It’s one of my all-time favourites in VGC and I’m honestly starting to love this Pokémon in general (I would put it in my ideal team six). This team would have not been the same without Dragapult; it made a huge work in so many scenarios – plus, since Shadow Rider Calyrex has been played Modest for a little while, it became even more effective than it was when I first started to test it.
This was my team! Let’s take a deeper look at each Pokémon.
The Team
Get the team’s paste here!
Ogerpon-Wellspring @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 212 HP / 12 Atk / 4 Def / 204 SpD / 76 Spe
Careful Nature
– Ivy Cudgel
– Taunt
– Follow Me
– Spiky Shield
I want to start with Ogerpon because I saw so many people trying to recreate the team and, as I expected, nobody went even close to recreate Ogerpon as it actually is. This extreme bulk in Special Defense did some miracles during my time with the team, especially in the matches against Shadow Rider Calyrex because Fake Out into +2 Astral Barrage (from the bulky Sitrus Berry Calyrex build) doesn’t pick the KO – but it also did great in many other situations. My point is simple – with the open team lists the only way to catch your opponent off guard is with the spread of your Pokémon. I did the same thing last year with my Gholdengo (which was MUCH faster than all the other Gholdengo of the meta). Ogerpon had that kind of impact here, the fact that it was able to hang on certain moves at certain amounts of HP remaining surprised my opponents and completely ruined their flowchart, which gave me so many free wins in Games 1, and not only those. If I collected tons of wins with this team, it’s also because I once again planned this kind of details at home and I arrived at the tournament knowing things that my opponents didn’t.
While the spread was not known, what it has been indeed known was Taunt – due to the open lists – but there was nothing that most of my opponents could do about it. When you play a Covert Cloak Terapagos and your redirector has Taunt, you totally nullify the impact of Incineroar, Amoonguss, Clefairy and many other supporters on the match. Originally I had even more Special Defense, but I made Ogerpon a little faster once that Smeargle appeared in the metagame – by being one point faster than Smeargle, I’m able to Taunt it without the mind game of Spore or Wide Guard and I can stop that dynamic from the beginning. Ogerpon + Terapagos is in fact my best lead by far, I lead with them something like 8 times out of 10.
Terapagos @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Tera Shift
Level: 50
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 12 HP / 156 Def / 252 SpA / 36 SpD / 52 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 15 Atk
– Tera Starstorm
– Flamethrower
– Calm Mind
– Protect
This spread of Terapagos is not mine, it’s actually made by Nicholas Borghi who made it public a bunch of weeks ago, so shoutout to him! I always had a great feeling with this spread, so I never really wanted to touch it until now (maybe I’ll consider doing so if I’ll pick this team again for Worlds), and I have to say that it did a great job. I really like Modest Terapagos with 252 Special Attack EVs, it deals extra damages and it’s very important when you play a Pokémon like Comfey, which can close some KOs with Draining Kiss also thanks to these extra damages.
Before Stockholm I had Tri-Attack as the second offensive move, but I kinda expected Zamazenta to rise up in usage and do well there, in fact it won that Regional. I already put Flamethrower a week before Stockholm, but I didn’t find a last-minute slot for VG Masters, and the outcome of the tournament helped me make the final decision of using Flamethrower. This move is also great against Amoonguss, but mostly against Ice Rider Calyrex and, of course, Zamazenta, which usually had a Grass Tera Type up until that point. Earth Power would have created some bad mind games against those Zamazenta (will it Terastallize or not?), while Flamethrower was more reliable in that sense. If you Terastallize Terapagos in the right turn, by reading your opponent’s intentions, even if they have Pelipper, you can win that match-up (as I did two times in the Day 2 of Bologna, for example).
Incineroar @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 236 HP / 4 Atk / 124 Def / 140 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
– Knock Off
– Will-O-Wisp
– Fake Out
– Parting Shot
I gotta be honest, I regret this spread of Incineroar a little bit. It made sense before the new spread of Ogerpon, but I never really considered changing it after that. It should be much more Defense-oriented, so if you want to try this team consider to do this change. It’s been useful in some match-ups, such as against Miraidon, but I’m very well covered already against those kinds of situations. The only scenario that very well might change for the worst with a different spread is Chi-Yu + Flutter Mane leads, but in all the others a Defense-oriented Incineroar might be better.
Rillaboom @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 196 HP / 116 Atk / 12 Def / 172 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Fake Out
– Grassy Glide
– Wood Hammer
– U-turn
I have had this Rillaboom since the Regulation Set E and I don’t really have reasons to change it. I kinda have this muscle memory with the damages and maybe I’m a little scared to change it; maybe I’m just biased, but I like it as it is. There’s not much more to say, actually, Rillaboom is (after Incineroar) the most consistent Fake Out user of VGC history. I rarely build a team without it if it’s available in the given VGC format and it’s perfect for my playstyle, plus Incineroar + Rillaboom is one of the greatest VGC duos I’ve ever seen in this game, so if I play Rillaboom I almost always play Incineroar too.
The Poison Tera Type is for the spam of Fairy-type and most importantly Fighting-type moves: if for any reason I don’t want to or I can’t Terastallize Terapagos, I wanted something that might cover some weakness of both Terapagos and Dragapult. Another good Tera Type is Fairy to overkill the match-up with Miraidon, but in the end you almost never consider Terastallizing Rillaboom.
Comfey @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Triage
Level: 50
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 220 HP / 172 Def / 12 SpA / 76 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Draining Kiss
– Floral Healing
– Protect
– Trick Room
This little pink demon has an interesting background. As I said, I started to use it from the very beginning and I was told by a friend that the streamer that does the casting in Italy for VGC events, Cydonia, was using Comfey + Terapagos too. One day this friend comes to me and tells me “he dropped it and I agree with that, it’s not good”, I was like “uh, really? Test it better, guys, Comfey has a lot of potential” and he was like “naaah, Amoonguss is much better”. I knew that I was right but I never expected to be THIS right! Comfey shone brighter than it ever has with this team, and I’m happy about it because it’s not like a common Pokémon for me. It’s been my great love in TCG with the Lost Zone decks and most importantly it’s the favorite Pokémon of my best friend in Unite, who is a very special person to me, so I also felt to have her with me a little bit during my path with this team.
As I explained to Lee Provost in the interview, the need of Comfey came from the high offensive pressure of this meta, which sometimes doesn’t allow you to play Covert Cloak Terapagos properly – you take a lot of damage and you struggle to keep up without proper healing. Pollen Puff from Amoonguss is an option, but most times it arrives last, which means that, in the meantime, if you are in range of something, you cannot really do much to save your Terapagos (especially with spread damages that cannot be redirected). The priority Floral Healing, thanks to Triage, unlocks new dynamics in that sense because you can heal your Terapagos instantly, survive the upcoming attacks and respond. I also wanted those 12 Special Attack EVs to have a little more firepower with Draining Kiss in general; I was not going to improve any significant roll anyway by using 8 more EVs somewhere else. The Speed is for the Jolly 252 Speed EV version of Incineroar, because Triage’s priority is the same of Fake Out and, if I’m always faster than Incineroar, I always outspeed their Fake Out. The Grass Tera Type is an emergency in case an Amoonguss comes out, I’m under Trick Room and I didn’t Terastallized Terapagos yet, so I can reverse my own Trick Room and escape the Spore threat. It’s very specific, I know, but it’s one of the most meaningful Tera Types for Comfey. Another one is the Fire Tera Type, but I still prefer the Grass one.
Dragapult @ Focus Sash
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Dragon Darts
– Phantom Force
– Thunder Wave
– Sucker Punch
Let’s close with the Pokémon that, if I didn’t make that mistake in Top 8 at Bologna, was single-handedly carrying my match: Dragapult. I cannot put in words how happy I am that I committed on this Pokémon again, it’s been simply amazing. The pressure of Thunder Wave, combined with Phantom Force and the Sucker Punch to close the KOs (same function as Draining Kiss in many ways) truly made the difference. Dragapult in my opinion is a fantastic supporter or sub DPS in general, not only in my team, because it’s a mix of things that you cannot find anywhere else.
Some players told me that I “made Dragapult appear much more consistent than it actually is”, but I don’t agree with them. I didn’t give consistency to Dragapult, I received it from Dragapult instead. The immunity against the drops due to Clear Body, the immunity against Fake Out, the Thunder Wave, the resistance against Surging Strikes and in general against Fire- and Grass-type moves, the insane pressure that it puts on Shadow Rider Calyrex by forcing it to Terastallize – I could go on and on, but I believe that my point is kinda clear. Seriously, don’t sleep on Dragapult because it is much stronger than it seems, especially if one of the biggest elephants in the room is 4 times weak against it. Just one advice: never play it without the Focus Sash, it needs it like oxygen, otherwise it doesn’t work as it does with it.
It’s not even the first time that this version of Dragapult gets the job done – back in Sword & Shield Series 10, my teammate in the Capital Underdogs, Giulio Tarlao, won a Rose Tower Open and he was playing this very same Dragapult with just Will-O-Wisp instead of Thunder Wave (because the team needed Will-O-Wisp more than Thunder Wave in that case). We were in a Discord call and I was helping him in the teambuilding, he didn’t know how to finish a team with 5 very good Pokémon and I suggested him that Dragapult, which made him win the tournament. I remembered that Dragapult and I realized that it was the perfect pick to close my team, this time with Thunder Wave because Koraidon is always played with Fire Tera Type, so I needed Thunder Wave to make it slower than Terapagos and expose it against Tera Starstorm – and overall Thunder Wave puts pressure on everything, not only physical Pokémon. In fact, I won many games against special attackers also because of Thunder Wave.
How to use the team
The truth is that, originally, I wrote an absurd quantity of information about every little detail of the game plans in this section, but I made a step back – I honestly don’t know if I don’t want to change some little things here and there and bring this team to Worlds too, but I also wanted to make the report. So I will give some pieces of advice here anyway, but more generic ones.
Main leads
As I said previously, the main lead of the team is Ogerpon + Terapagos because it’s amazing against the majority of the match-ups, especially against the Shadow Rider Calyrex balance teams – it’s a great lead also against Ice Rider Calyrex, Koraidon and Kyogre. The back, of course, changes depending on the match-up; for example, against Shadow Rider hyper offense teams with Mienshao, I bring Comfey and Dragapult in the back, while against the balanced versions (such as Adam Cherfaoui and Hippolyte Bernard‘s version) I bring Dragapult and Rillaboom instead.
Incineroar + Terapagos is what I call the “emergency lead”, because when I don’t have a clue of what to do I generally lead with them and I keep Comfey and something else in the back. It gives me the Xerneas + Incineroar vibes, so I like this lead. Basically over time I started to prefer Ogerpon + Terapagos. I stuck with Incineroar + Terapagos mainly against Terapagos hyper offense teams with Chi-Yu and Flutter Mane, but I also like it against some versions of Ice Rider Calyrex if the Calyrex does not have Fire Tera Type. I also like to lead them against Lunala to bait the Meteor Beam and switch in Rillaboom over Incineroar, to kinda absorb the move and remove that option for the rest of the game.
The last lead is Rillaboom + Terapagos and I very rarely use it. The main scenario is the match-up against Miraidon, because I escape the Helping Hand-boosted Electro Drift under the terrain on turn 1 without being forced to Terastallize Terapagos. In that case, I usually have Ogerpon and Comfey in the back, but I might decide something else depending on the version of the opponent’s team. I took on some Miraidon team between Bologna and NAIC, one of them was Luca Ceribelli who reached the Final in Bologna, and his team with Single Strike Style Urshifu + Psychic Noise Farigiraf makes the match-up trickier – I won in Swiss, but I’m not sure that I could have won again honestly, because Luca lost also due to my spreads and in the Final he had more information. Pay attention if you face that specific version, especially versus strong players such as Luca; against most of the other versions, it’s almost a free win, though.
Tournament run - Bologna
This was my run at the Bologna Special Event!
Day 1 Swiss rounds
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Win |  Lu Hao (宣告者の神巫) |     |  |
| R2 | Win |  Alessio Calemme (Dokucale) | | |
| R3 | Win | Samuel Negri (SpaccaGoblin) |      | |
| R4 | Win | Maurizio D’Andrea (Animod) |     | |
| R5 | Win |  Joseph Pulkowski (babysheegoth) |   | |
| R6 | Win | Federico Camporesi (FedeCampoVGC) |   | |
| R7 | Win |  Munkh-Orgil Munkhbat (ReiMiXo) |   | |
| R8 | Win |  Adam Cherfaoui (Shao) |     | |
| R9 | Win | Antonio Marchitelli (Ryum) |  | |
You can watch my Round 5 match against Joseph here!
Day 2 Swiss rounds
Top Cut
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 8 | Loss | Hippolyte Bernard (★AllySwitch★) | | |
You can watch my Top 8 match against Hippolyte here!
Tournament run - NAIC
This was my run at the North America International Championships!
Day 1 Swiss rounds
Closing thoughts
And that’s all. I’m overall proud of my team, also because this time it’s pretty much 100% mine with just some little things taken from outside (such as the spread of Terapagos, for example). Bologna went beyond my expectations, while NAIC has been painful not only for the very bad luck in the win-and-in but also because I actually got food poisoning in New Orleans the day before the tournament, but I’m happy with what I accomplished. I might sound childish and silly, maybe even cringe, but it feels different when you go this far with a team that has some of your favourites, especially if it’s you who makes them shine in the metagame for the first time. I hope that both Comfey and Dragapult will now get more consideration because their potential has not been fully unlocked yet.
I want to say thank you to all the people that supported me so far – my teammates of the Capital Underdogs, our club; e-Parrots, that helps us constantly; and to all my friends inside and outside the VGC world. A special mention to the Italian community because the love, affection and support that they gave me during my run at Bologna was no sense, the crowd went crazy when I won in streaming and when I lost they gave me a round of applause while I was alone on stage, despite me not being the winner. I don’t know if I really deserve all of this, but I would have felt dirty If I didn’t say thank you to them one more time, they truly are the best.
A final shout out to the staff of Victory Road for their outstanding work and thanks to them for the chance that they gave me to come back here and talk about a team of mine, hopefully not for the last time!
Thank you all, I love you.
