Header artwork by Bruno Rebello.
My name is Bruno Rebello, a 16 year old from Brazil who started playing this game about 1.5 years ago. This is my first team report (and honestly, first written thing I’ve done in about 2 years), but still hope you can understand all my thoughts and truly be able to understand the team.
Table of Contents
Teambuilding process
Ever since the start of the Regulation Set G, I knew I would main Koraidon. Accounting for my fondness of Sun teams and just so happening to have Scarlet as the game I bought, I was sure that I would build around it (I also played it for 8 months straight, so I kinda became one of the best Koraidon pilots).
My next option was an obvious one, as Raging Bolt helps in a lot of match-ups that Koraidon doesn’t like (Kyogre, Tornadus, Pelipper), whilst doing insane damage in the Sun, so I went with an offensive nuke variant of Raging Bolt, since i felt like trading it for an important piece (like Ice Rider Calyrex, Shadow Rider Calyrex, opposing Koraidon and Miraidon) was really good for my plans.
This team needed some speed control. While Tailwind users like Whimsicott or Tornadus could be nice, since they provide Sunny Day support too, Flutter Mane sounded better for the job, since I didn’t like that many Ice-type weaknesses and Dragon-, Normal- and Fighting-type immunities are incredibly good at beating opposing Dragons that threaten my team. Booster Energy felt better as I always wanted to have a bit of speed control, and sometimes I couldn’t just lead Koraidon + Flutter Mane.
Now, I would like a Spore immunity and redirector, and there’s no better Pokémon for the job than Ogerpon. I went with Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon instead of the more obvious Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon to abuse Sun, since I needed a good Ice Rider Calyrex counter and general survivability, and Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon’s Sturdy and Rock typing really made it a good fit. This looks like a bit of Luca Paz’s Koraidon team, but this is mostly since it was the main inspiration for my team, as I really loved the Koraidon + Raging Bolt + Flutter Mane + Ogerpon core.
I feel like for this core, the 5th and 6th Pokémon are very flexible, but I ended up always locking Chi-Yu as the 5th to have a favorable matchup into Shadow Rider Calyrex and most special attackers (namely PsySpam teams).
During the Rio de Janeiro Regional, I decided to go with Iron Hands, as I felt the metagame for the Regional would be mostly filled with Miraidon, and Iron Hands would help with it as well as Trick Room, another bad match-up. This worked really well, and scored me a solid Top 8, in which I only lost to a certain team (which ended up going second at EUIC). I had a good match-up against it, but my opponents simply played better. After the tournament, I realized I didn’t bring Iron Hands to most games other than the Miraidon and Ice Rider Calyrex matchup, so it felt like a wasted slot.
Get the Rio de Janeiro team’s paste here!
During EUIC, I realized my glaring weakness to Ground, with Incarnate Forme Landorus as my biggest problem, and decided my 6th would be Chien-Pao, as it dealt with Ground and Flying types, pressured Shadow Rider Calyrex to Terastallize or switch, supported Koraidon and Ogerpon with more damage, and helped remove terrain against Miraidon or PsySpam. This team ended up flawed as I had an unwinnable matchup against Ice Rider Calyrex + Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon, which ended up knocking my score from 3-1 to 4-4.
Now, this brings us to the Fortaleza Regional, after seeing I had a problem mostly with slow physical threats in Trick Room (Iron Hands, Ice Rider Calyrex), I needed a supportive Pokémon that could slow them down, while giving me extra support that I could use in most match-ups, and while I didn’t use it before because two Fire/Dark types would be repetitive, I ended up bringing Incineroar as the 6th, with Will-O-Wisp after I noticed most Ice Rider Calyrex stopped being Fire Tera Type.
The Team
Get the team’s paste here!
Koraidon @ Clear Amulet
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 236 HP / 196 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Collision Course
– Flare Blitz
– Flame Charge
– Protect
Koraidon is bulky to eat up Flare Blitz recoil better and surviving most super-effective attacks, whilst having enough Attack to get the EV jump and enough Speed to outspeed Jolly Urshifu.
252 Atk Ogerpon-Cornerstone Ivy Cudgel (1.2x Mask Boost) vs. 236 HP / 4 Def Tera-Fire Koraidon: 170-204 (82.9 – 99.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
220 SpA Life Orb Calyrex-Shadow Rider Helping Hand Astral Barrage vs. 236 HP / 4 SpD Tera-Fire Koraidon: 175-207 (85.3 – 100.9%) — 6.25% chance to OHKO
196+ Atk Orichalcum Pulse Tera-Fire Koraidon Flare Blitz vs. +1 92 HP / 156+ Def Zamazenta-Crowned in Sun: 182-216 (101.6 – 120.6%) — guaranteed OHKO
196+ Atk Orichalcum Pulse Sword of Ruin Tera-Fire Koraidon Collision Course (Super Effective) vs. +1 92 HP / 156+ Def Zamazenta-Crowned: 179-216 (100 – 120.6%) — guaranteed OHKO
196+ Atk Orichalcum Pulse Tera-Fire Koraidon Flame Charge (Tera 60 BP Boost) vs. 212 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane in Sun: 145-172 (92.3 – 109.5%) — 56.25% chance to OHKO
Raging Bolt @ Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Level: 50
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 148 HP / 164 Def / 100 SpA / 4 SpD / 92 Spe
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Thunderclap
– Draco Meteor
– Protect
I really like the damage output of Life Orb Raging Bolt, Protosynthesis-boosted Draco Meteor hits everything neutrally like a truck, and Terastallization-boosted Thunderbolt or Thunderclap can easily clean up. This was one of the main methods for me to damage Ice Rider Calyrex, so I went with a physically defensive set with enough Speed to pass 4 Spe EV Terapagos (not intended lmao).
164+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Glacial Lance vs. 148 HP / 116 Def Raging Bolt: 182-216 (83.1 – 98.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO
220 SpA Life Orb Beads of Ruin Calyrex-Shadow Rider Astral Barrage vs. 148 HP / 4 SpD Raging Bolt: 172-203 (78.5 – 92.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 148 HP / 116 Def Raging Bolt: 180-212 (82.1 – 96.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO
100+ SpA Life Orb Protosynthesis Beads of Ruin Tera-Electric Raging Bolt Thunderclap vs. 28 HP / 4 SpD Calyrex-Shadow Rider: 185-218 (103.3 – 121.7%) — guaranteed OHKO
100+ SpA Life Orb Protosynthesis Tera-Electric Raging Bolt Draco Meteor vs. +2 4 HP / 148 SpD Dondozo: 110-133 (48.6 – 58.8%) — 60.55% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Flutter Mane @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Level: 50
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 244 HP / 132 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 124 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Moonblast
– Icy Wind
– Thunder Wave
– Protect
Flutter Mane is my main and only speed control in the team, so it’s vital to face most Tailwind or just faster teams. Thunder Wave is to keep a speed advantage against Koraidon and Covert Cloak Shadow Rider Calyrex, Speed EVs allow me to outspeed base 135 Pokémon, and Normal Tera Type to guarantee paralysis on Shadow Rider Calyrex.
252+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Glacial Lance vs. 212 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane: 130-154 (82.8 – 98%) — guaranteed 2HKO
196+ Atk Orichalcum Pulse Tera-Fire Koraidon Flame Charge (Tera 60 BP Boost) vs. 212 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane in Sun: 145-172 (92.3 – 109.5%) — 56.25% chance to OHKO
84+ SpA Calyrex-Shadow Rider Astral Barrage vs. 212 HP / 4 SpD Flutter Mane: 138-164 (87.8 – 104.4%) — 25% chance to OHKO
4 SpA Beads of Ruin Flutter Mane Moonblast vs. 244 HP / 52 SpD Incineroar: 96-114 (47.7 – 56.7%) — 85.55% chance to 2HKO
4 SpA Flutter Mane Icy Wind vs. 244 HP / 4 SpD Landorus: 96-116 (49.2 – 59.4%) — 98.44% chance to 2HKO
Ogerpon-Cornerstone @ Cornerstone Mask
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 50
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 36 HP / 204 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Ivy Cudgel
– Power Whip
– Follow Me
– Spiky Shield
This Ogerpon spread allows me to survive Mystic Water Surging Strikes from 188+ Atk EV Urshifu (96% of the time that is), rest is just standard Ogerpon stuff: Follow Me to help Flutter Mane and Koraidon survive, has a great match-up into Fire-Tera Type Ice Rider Calyrex and Sturdy helps get in an extra hit against something like both Calyrex forms.
188+ Atk Mystic Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 36 HP / 12 Def Ogerpon-Cornerstone on a critical hit: 138-165 (86.2 – 103.1%) — 3.74% chance to OHKO
220 SpA Life Orb Calyrex-Shadow Rider Astral Barrage vs. 36 HP / 4 SpD Ogerpon-Cornerstone: 121-142 (75.6 – 88.7%) — guaranteed 2HKO
204 Atk Ogerpon-Cornerstone Ivy Cudgel (1.2x Mask Boost) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Ice Rider: 134-158 (64.7 – 76.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO
204 Atk Ogerpon-Cornerstone Ivy Cudgel (1.2x Mask Boost) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tera-Fire Groudon: 140-168 (67.6 – 81.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO
204 Atk Ogerpon-Cornerstone Power Whip (1.2x Mask Boost) vs. 212 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane: 147-174 (93.6 – 110.8%) — 62.5% chance to OHKO
Chi-Yu @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 172 HP / 44 Def / 36 SpA / 12 SpD / 244 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Heat Wave
– Snarl
– Overheat
– Taunt
I love Miss-Yu. You should love Miss-Yu too since it’s pivotal to the Shadow Rider Calyrex and PsySpam matchup, while just being extra safety against Terapagos. This spread allows Chi-Yu to live Close Combat after Terastallizing, and enough Speed to outspeed Timid max Speed Terapagos. Heat Wave for consistent spread damage, Snarl to stop special attackers and Overheat for a burst attack in a pinch. Taunt stops Trick Room and Amoonguss from doing its thing.
252+ Atk Urshifu-Rapid Strike Close Combat vs. 172 HP / 44 Def Tera-Water Chi-Yu: 127-151 (83.5 – 99.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Protosynthesis Raging Bolt Thunderbolt vs. 172 HP / 12 SpD Chi-Yu: 126-149 (82.8 – 98%) — guaranteed 2HKO
36+ SpA Beads of Ruin Chi-Yu Snarl vs. 28 HP / 4 SpD Calyrex-Shadow Rider: 180-216 (100.5 – 120.6%) — guaranteed OHKO
36+ SpA Beads of Ruin Chi-Yu Overheat vs. 180 HP / 4 SpD Calyrex-Shadow Rider in Sun: 213-252 (107.5 – 127.2%) — guaranteed OHKO
Incineroar @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Atk / 196 Def / 52 SpD / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
– Knock Off
– Fake Out
– Will-O-Wisp
– Parting Shot
When in doubt, use Incineroar as a 6th. Jokes aside, I needed a Pokémon that could tank Glacial Lance, pressure Ice Rider Calyrex and stop physical Trick Room sweepers, and Incineroar just happened to fit those criteria. With a physically bulky set, I could tank Glacial Lances, and Safety Goggles helped me with the Amoonguss match-up. Ghost Tera Type also helps out in the Zamazenta match-up, although I never used it, and the Chien-Pao + Dragonite match-up.
116+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider High Horsepower vs. 244 HP / 196+ Def Incineroar: 108-128 (53.7 – 63.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 244 HP / 196+ Def Incineroar on a critical hit: 180-216 (89.5 – 107.4%) — 14.4% chance to OHKO
4 Atk Incineroar Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 28 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Shadow Rider: 300-352 (167.5 – 196.6%) — guaranteed OHKO
How to use the team
Koraidon + Flutter Mane is the most common lead, mostly used against faster teams without Tailwind or more balanced teams. Flutter Mane provides Icy Wind or Thunder Wave support while Koraidon dishes out major damage with Collision Course or Fire Tera Type-boosted Flare Blitz.
Koraidon + Ogerpon is my go-to lead against Tailwind Miraidon, but it should work in a variety of situations. Follow Me allows Koraidon to use attacks without fear of strong single-target attacks, but Fire + Fighting + Rock + Grass coverage is also great, having a lot of super effective hits on the meta.
Koraidon + Raging Bolt is the most offensive lead this team has. If you use it, most likely you want to remove a Pokémon from the game turn 1 (most likely an Amoonguss). While it has its ups, it’s only really used in the Zamazenta match-up.
The rest of the leads will be in more detail on the specific match-ups.
vs Miraidon teams
Tailwind variants
Lead +
Back, /
Lead Koraidon + Ogerpon. Miraidon likes to lead itself + Whimsicott in this match-up, and most of the time they just click Volt Switch on Koraidon and Tailwind, but there’s 2 plays you can make:
- Protect Koraidon and Ogerpon: This can tell you your opponent’s intentions and what they decided to choice-lock onto. This is very passive but effective anyway.
- Protect Koraidon + Ivy Cudgel Miraidon: This is my preferred play, as if Miraidon Volt Switches on the Koraidon, it’s free chip, but if they Volt Switch Ogerpon you can survive the subsequent Moonblast from Whimsicott. The only worry is the opponent switching into Iron Hands and Faking Out Ogerpon so you can’t Follow Me the Encore (ALWAYS remember to Follow Me in turn 2 with both plays, they can predict you to Follow Me but it’s never worth the risk).
- (There’s the forbidden Protect Ogerpon + Collision Course Miraidon but that’s a Game 3 play).
The back two are always either Incineroar and Flutter Mane or Incineroar and Raging Bolt, depends if you think they’ll use Trick Room mode or not.
No Tailwind variants
Lead +
Back,
Lead Koraidon + Flutter Mane. While this Koraidon is slower than Iron Treads, this should still work well for you, they will always go with Trick Room mode anyways.
If they lead Iron Hands + Farigiraf, you can switch in Incineroar in the Koraidon slot and Moonblast Iron Hands. If it’s Game 1, they will basically always Fake Out the Koraidon.
The back two could be either Incineroar and Raging Bolt or Incineroar and Ogerpon, but I prefer Raging Bolt for its match-up into Miraidon both before and after Terastallization.
vs Zamazenta teams
Lead + , or +
Back/, //
There are two main leads into Zamazenta:
- If you think they’ll lead non-Fairy Tera Type Amoonguss + Zamazenta, lead Koraidon + Raging Bolt
- Anything else, lead Koraidon + Flutter Mane
The main objective of the team is to force the Terastallization on Zamazenta. Most Zamazenta are running Dragon Tera Type, but if they are Water or Grass it also works out. Immediately attempt Thunder Wave or Icy Wind if you can break Chien-Pao’s Focus Sash or there’s an Amoonguss. If Zamazenta goes for Terastallization, Flutter Mane’s Moonblast and Raging Bolt’s Draco Meteor hit like a truck.
The main mons you will bring are Koraidon, Flutter Mane and Raging Bolt. As for the 4th:
- You bring Ogerpon if you think Follow Me is essential
- You bring Incineroar if you either want to commit Terastallization or have a plan to lure Body Press or get a pin with Will-O-Wisp
- You bring Chi-Yu if you want it to force the Terastallization out rather than Koraidon
Small tip: Koraidon + Flutter Mane vs Chien-Pao + Zamazenta is filled with 50/50s, you can literally double each one of them and just simply win (with Sword of Ruin, Moonblast + Collision Course on Zamazenta is a guaranteed KO most of the time).
vs Terapagos teams
Lead + Back
Several options
Just click buttons lol. On a serious note, this is the best Koraidon match-up there is, but there are some complications you can run into:
- Thunder Wave Flutter Mane: Probably the biggest threat to Koraidon against Terapagos (dropped a set on EUIC because Thunder Wave got full paralysis like 5 times), so you’d want to avoid that the most you can with stuff like Follow Me, getting the paralysis first, etc. Koraidon + Flutter Mane, Flutter Mane + Chi-Yu, Flutter Mane + Ogerpon and Ogerpon + Chi-Yu are all valid leads. Just click Snarl, Taunt and Collision Course and you win lol.
- Heatran + Scream Tail: This team gave me troubles while testing, but I figured they would just never use Terapagos since it really does nothing on the match-up (my finals opponent kept bringing it, that was 100% a throw), but your first priority is to either Flare Blitz, Taunt or Thunder Wave the Scream Tail, deal with Heatran afterwards. Speaking of Heatran, the only two Pokémon that can damage it are Raging Bolt and Ogerpon, so if you can get a cheeky KO with Electric Tera Type-boosted Thunderbolt on Heatran, its GGs basically, although never just trade your Flutter Mane for Thunder Wave on Scream Tail, as an Ogerpon in the back could reverse sweep you.
vs Ice Rider Calyrex teams
Considered one of Koraidon’s worst match-ups, and for good reason. Spread Ice-type attacks that hit most of Koraidon’s Protosynthesis partners while being able to go before any Pokémon with its Trick Room, it’s definitely not a great match-up, but there are ways to win against it.
Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon variants
Lead +
Back,
Probably the worst of them all, nothing breaks Sturdy and does significant damage at the same time to Calyrex, but it’s still doable. The main lead I do against that would be Incineroar + Ogerpon. I pressure Fake Out, lower opposing Ogerpon’s Attack, and if Ogerpon does really attack, I could either double it or risk Calyrex getting burned or severely damaged. Koraidon and Raging Bolt are the best behind, since it’s faster than most of Calyrex balance’s partners under Trick Room, while also pressuring Thunderclap if Calyrex has been chipped a lot.
Hard Trick Room variants
Lead +
Back,
Oooh boy, I lied about the match-up before being the worst, cause this one STINKS. I’m using the Vancouver finalist team as reference, as I hadn’t seen any recently (but I guessed it would probably climb up after that… and Stockholm confirmed my guess!).
Lead Koraidon + Chi-Yu, your only objective is to get Taunt on whichever Pokémon is Trick Rooming. If you can’t Taunt it (Hatterene), Overheat it. If they lead with Smeargle (which will be the most likely), stuff only gets hard, as you can’t OHKO it with any move, so attacking is safest. I would pivot Incineroar in too and Terastallize the Chi-Yu into Water. Koraidon + Chi-Yu with Incineroar and Ogerpon in back are probably the best 4; never had any experience against the team though.
The Tangs’ TailRoom variant
Lead +
Back, /
The San Antonio team by Justin Tang and Tang Shiliang is a weird team, but I’d still lead Ogerpon + Incineroar, since it’s a great lead into almost all match-ups. I don’t think the Tailwind mode would be a good option for them since Flutter Mane can just speed control everyone and only gets outsped by Roaring Moon in Tailwind, so the Trick Room mode is almost always the better option into my team. Ogerpon + Incineroar with Koraidon and Raging Bolt in the back should be enough, but if you really expect the Tailwind mode, change Raging Bolt for Flutter Mane.
vs Shadow Rider Calyrex teams
Weezing + Dondozo variants
Lead +
Back,
Kind of a bummer matchup, but 100% winnable. I haven’t had any experience yet, but I would go with lead Flutter Mane + Chi-Yu. It’s very bad if it’s running Normal Tera Type and Hyper Beam, but if you’re able to beat Shadow Rider Calyrex, then Raging Bolt and Koraidon can clean up Dondozo. If they don’t lead with Weezing, but something like Roaring Moon, you can use this opportunity to kill it or pressure it to Terastallize, which is favorable.
No Covert Cloak variants
Lead + Back
Several options
One of the more favorable match-ups, Calyrex gets pressured by Snarl so it’s forced to Terastallize, and some threats like Raging Bolt can clean it up with Thunderclap. Some leads could be Chi-Yu + Flutter Mane, Flutter Mane + Koraidon, Flutter Mane + Ogerpon or Chi-Yu + Ogerpon depending on what your opponent’s full team is.
Covert Cloak variants with Clefairy
Lead +
Another relatively bad match-up, but also winnable. The main objective is to kill Clefairy, be it Fire Tera Type-boosted Flare Blitz or Sun-boosted Overheat. After that, if you can speed-control it, all should be well. On these teams, Calyrex is most commonly used with Calm Mind, Fairy Tera Type and Draining Kiss, so Chi-Yu isn’t a reliable counter. A lead like Koraidon + Chi-Yu could do well, just beware Helping Hand-boosted attacks.
vs Koraidon teams
Kind of a toughie, but extremely winnable. The main weakness with the team is the fact that Koraidon isn’t Clear Amulet, so Incineroar can abuse that fact a bit with some cycling between resists and pressure. The perish trap mode is kind of annoying too, but also manageable, with Flutter Mane and Ghost-Tera Type Incineroar, as well as Parting Shot. Still, difficult match-up.
PsySpam variants
Lead + , or +
Back
Iron Crown is a fun idea: Koraidon teams really need the Steel typing, but there aren’t really that many that work on this meta, but using Psychic Terrain is a new idea. I theorized it during the 2024 season’s Regulation Set G run, but got nowhere. Anyways, Chi-Yu eats this team alive. Lead Chi-Yu + Flutter Mane, It’s only bad if they perfect read and go with Koraidon + Venusaur, but still this does a lot of damage on lead. If they go PsySpam mode, just Heat Wave or Overheat them. If they bring Venusaur, Thunder Wave it. Probably try to pivot in Ogerpon for a better match-up. If you want the safest lead, go with Flutter Mane + Koraidon, but that might be problematic vs Iron Crown.
vs Kyogre teams
Calm Mind variants
Lead +
Back,
Ogerpon can deal with Calm Mind Kyogre really well, whilst Raging Bolt can kill its partners and Koraidon can come in freely. Ogerpon + Raging Bolt with Flutter Mane and Koraidon in the back are the main Pokémon you will bring.
Mystic Water variants
Lead +
Back,
Now we’re talking, the real Kyogre. My friend who I battled on Round 7 of Swiss, Hugo Santos, used probably the best Kyogre team in the meta, and gave me a true 50/50 of a battle. These Kyogre are always accompanied by Tornadus, so never lead Koraidon. A better lead would be something like Raging Bolt + Flutter Mane, with Koraidon and Ogerpon in the back. If you have the opportunity, kill the Tornadus and keep Kyogre’s HP in check, as Water Spout hits hard.
vs Groudon teams
Lead +
Back,
Good luck lmao, I’d consider this the hardest match-up for the team. The only thing keeping this match-up together is Ogerpon, as it can hit Groudon super effectively before and after Terastallization. Opposing Flutter Mane are very annoying with Icy Wind, so your own Flutter Mane should be good to stop the speed control. Groudon will Terastallize most of the time, so Raging Bolt can also Thunderclap it, while being able to survive 1 Precipice Blades. Koraidon can also 2HKO it with Collision Course between 33% and 78% of the time depending on the roll (most likely 78% as Groudon wants to be faster than -1 Ogerpon). If you’re able to paralyze Groudon, Raging Bolt can deal with it after using Electric Tera Type.
Some extra damage rolls:
100+ SpA Life Orb Protosynthesis Raging Bolt Thunderclap vs. 184 HP / 4 SpD Tera-Fire Groudon: 113-134 (57 – 67.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO
100+ SpA Life Orb Protosynthesis Tera-Electric Raging Bolt Thunderbolt vs. 184 HP / 4 SpD Tera-Fire Groudon: 192-229 (96.9 – 115.6%) — 87.5% chance to OHKO
Click on the tabs to see some notes!
+ 
Back
, 
/
Kingambit + Sneasler lead is very strong at forcing out Terastallizations from Archaludon and Basculegion, and it’s also good against the annoying Maushold variants which spam side-Beat Up. The answer to Maushold + Archaludon leads is always Sucker Punch + Close Combat to Maushold to cover for Ghost Tera Type.The one line that you have to keep in mind is Water-Tera Type Basculegion’s Wave Crash into Kingambit with a Pelipper switch-in in the other slot. It might look really bad, but you get a lot of tempo with the weather control you get from Ninetales switching in, and that short tempo swing combined with the Sucker Punch and recoil damage that Basculegion took, means that you have pretty much guaranteed 2 KOs worth of damage incoming. +
Back
, The theme of forcing out Terastallizations continues – the duo of Sneasler + Ninetales hits the entire team for super effective damage, so your opponent is forced to Terastallize early – but after that:- Your lead duo takes guaranteed KOs
- Your Kingambit and Magmar in the back are really strong
+
Back
, /Fire-Tera Type Kingambit is very strong into the team – the biggest threat to it is Ursaluna, but if you can position yourself to KO Jumpluff early with Magmar‘s Heat Wave (or force its Terastallization out), Ursaluna becomes extremely vulnerable. The option to switch to Rillaboom early to reduce Earthquake damage is very nice, especially since the Kingambit + Magmar duo is so strong into the rest of the team. +
Back
, The Michael Kelsch / MDB‘s Magmar balance team matchup is quite tough, you have to pretty much call the lead, BUT this approach is good into 2 of the most popular leads I encountered – that being Magmar + Primarina and Sneasler + Dragapult. If you can KO the opposing Magmar fast enough to prevent the Primarina from dealing too much damage, the endgame should be good. +
Back
, The most important thing in the Joan Garcia‘s solo Dondozo team matchup is not letting Sneasler get too many Coachings into Dondozo – Fire-Tera Type Kingambit is very strong into the rest of the team, so if you can KO Sneasler early, then you can deal a lot of damage with Kingambit, so you can finish the Dondozo with Basculegion and Ninetales; it should be fine. +
Back
, //Kingambit is usually very good at dealing with the offensive Pokémon like Glimmora, Gholdengo and Indeedee in the early game. Even though the “Dozogiri” (Dondozo + Tatsugiri) mode might seem tough to beat on paper, it is really easy to overpower it with 150 BP Last Respects from Basculegion. If you know that the Dondozo is not max Speed, you can abuse that by using Encore and a combination of Wood Hammer or Freeze-Dry + Close Combat to cover for Terastallization. +
Back
, Against Nils Dunlop‘s sand team, you can very easily abuse your double pivoting moves in U-turn and Flip Turn to secure terrain control and weather control. As soon as Indeedee is KO’d, the game is pretty much over, since your opponent doesn’t have a clear way to beat Basculegion and Sneasler./ +
Back
/, The matchup is really nice, your priority should be setting up a Swords Dance with Kingambit, and if you survive Trick Room turns against Ursaluna, Porygon2 and Amoonguss you can pretty freely spam Kowtow Cleaves in the endgame and get a ton of damage off.Tournament run
I will be completely honest, I have some “condition” where in every single game I play, I lock in so hard that I cannot remember anything about the game afterwards. When I realized this, I started taking notes about the games (mostly just the 4 Pokémon sent out, some math and some quirks about the opposing team like speed tiers, etc). If there’s a round with no notes, just assume I forgot literally everything about it.
This was my run in Fortaleza!
Day 1
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | WLW |  Bruno Carli (beelzebruno) |   |  |
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R2 | WW | Paulo Victor Leite (Biko) |    | |
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R3 | WW | Guilherme Queiroz (Queiroz) |     | |
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R4 | WW | Caio Lattanzi (caiovibora) |   | |
This round I actually remember a bit of information. I entered it already thinking I’d lose since the Groudon match-up is just that bad.
I forgot my exact lead, but I always went with Koraidon, Flutter Mane, Ogerpon and Raging Bolt. They had Flutter Mane, but always led with Ogerpon + Groudon. Maybe they thought with Precipice Blades chip he could win easier.
Basically every single game had one Precipice Blades miss, every single one was important, and I always ended up in an endgame where his last would be with Volcarona, which was very good for me since it did nothing against my team.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R5 | WLW | João Bozano (Mrbozz) | | |
This was the only Ice Rider Calyrex I played against, and it was probably the hardest match of the event for me. He genuinely played super well and attempted to adapt to me a bunch.
Game 1 he went with full Trick Room mode with Raging Bolt.
Game 2 he adapted well and used Landorus when my Raging Bolt couldn’t defend, but…
Game 3 he misread me and went back with the Raging Bolt mode, which lost him the game.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R6 | Win |
Daniel Santana
(Terry) |   | |
Day 1 summary: 6-0 (12-2) — Advancing to Day 2 and guaranteed Top Cut!
Day 2 Swiss rounds
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R7 | WLW | Hugo Santos (Labacedo) |  | |
Hugo is one of my best friends and one of the best Kyogre players around, so I already knew this match would be a hard one. The entire game was a 50/50 every turn basically, but it actually was decided when I ran out of timer and the game did the right play.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R8 | LWW | Yan Sym (Hellraiser) |  | |
This was probably just a scouting match for him, but I played it very seriously as I wanted to keep the undefeated run integrity still going.
I lost G1 thinking he would go for a no Terapagos mode, since that’s what most people did against me on ladder, but he went with Terapagos all 3 games. I thought it was a lure, but in the finals I realized he was just not playing optimally against me.
Day 2 Swiss rounds summary: 2-0 (4-2)
Final Swiss result: 8-0 (16-4) — Advancing to Top Cut with a bye!
Top Cut
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 32 | Win | Bye |
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 16 | WLW | Thiago Barbosa (Okaime) | | |
This was a different variant of Terapagos + Heatran that used Flutter Mane instead of Scream Tail. I thought it would be a bit easier, but during Game 2 he was able to get a paralysis into full paralysis on my Koraidon which prevented me from winning the game, but I was kinda rewarded in Game 3 because I forgot Heatran could Fairy-Tera Type Tera Blast my Koraidon after I predicted a Terapagos switch out, which would have ended the game… but I ended up critting Heatran.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 8 | LWW | Arthur Katz (Katzzz) |  | |
This was a weird match-up, as I didn’t have any training against Latios and the entire match-up was basically a 50/50. If I’m not mistaken, I won because of Thunder Wave paralysis.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 4 | LWW |  Sebastián Escalante (Sebastian) | | |
This was a tricky match-up.
Game 1 I lost to a double Protect.
Game 2 I just outplayed, and…
Game 3 I was able to land a Struggle on a Flutter Mane switching in. Sebastián said it was a crit but I didn’t see the text and the Moonblast before did around 50%, and Struggle does 50-60% to bulkless Flutter Mane.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 4 | WW | Yan Sym (Hellraiser) | | |
Terapagos is always a good match-up for me, but I did have difficulties against Heatran + Scream Tail on ladder, so I expected him to go with a no Terapagos mode this time around.
But Game 1 he ended up leading Terapagos + Scream Tail on my Koraidon + Raging Bolt. I think turn 1 I pivoted in Flutter Mane in the Raging Bolt slot expecting a Protect from both, which happened. Turn 2 I was able to Icy Wind + Collision Course the Terapagos, after which he immediately forfeited.
Game 2 was a bit different, I expected about the same lead but did some mistakes around the middle, namely misclicking a switch and getting in Raging Bolt on the Ogerpon slot instead of Flutter Mane on a Heavy Slam, where +2 Terastal Forme Terapagos killed it and Heatran got full paralyzed because of a Thunder Wave. I ended up winning after needing 3 full paralyses in a row as my only out.
Top Cut summary: 5-0 (10-3)
Final Swiss rounds + Top Cut record: 13-0 (26-7) — Fortaleza Regional Champion
Closing Words
This win genuinely felt so good to me, I was starting to get some impostor syndrome because I felt I was only good because Seniors is easier to score points, but the Rio top 8 and the Fortaleza win really helped me out, also this did finally give reason to use Koraidon for 7 straight months.
Huge shoutout to my friends over at Dragon Rage for supporting me the entire time and my parents for truly giving me this amazing opportunity.
