The Regulation E-mperor PengWIN!
Hello everyone, Tofu and Snorlax here to bring you a new team! Not just us however, for this is a special collaboration with our resident Trick Room expert, Progatog! In a serendipitous moment of mentioning the same idea, we decided to put our combined VGC knowledge to use to craft a team befitting of both of us for both casual AND serious play. In a fun twist, it ended up being an extremely solid team in my opinion, with a lot of room to grow as well, and our focus for today is not just one team, but bonus variations too which alters the dynamic!
Please find a link to their video as well further down in the post!
- Teambuilding Process
- Sets and Breakdown
- The Flex Slot
- Honorable Mentions
- Gameplan
- Closing and Rental
Teambuilding Process
The team started off with Empoleon at its base. With it's strong natural typing and Competitive as it's Ability of choice, it had a niche that was unique to itself:
- Intimidate deterrent (and any other stat-drops for that matter)
- Breaking Swipe Roaring Moon/Snarl Chi-Yu/Icy Wind Flutter Mane are common to see.
- Additionally favours the Tornadus matchup due to them having a 30% chance of triggering Competitive
- Strong defensive type; favourable into Urshifu-Rapid-Strike/Gholdengo/Flutter Mane, which are strong meta threats at the moment.
- Surging Strikes/Make It Rain/Dazzling Gleam or Moonblast
- Unique coverage in Water/Steel/Ice/Fighting
- Access to Vacuum Wave acting as a great priority move especially with its x4 damage towards Chien-Pao and Kingambit.
I draw comparisons to Heatran, and I feel Empoleon fulfills the same role you want it to , with less of a weakness into Landorus-T. Heatran tends to also be your Gholdengo/Flutter/Chi-Yu anchor, and to a lesser degree Empoleon enters those same matchups comfortably enough due to its existing tools.
Initially this began as a hard-TR team but I soon quickly realised that was not the way we wanted to go down.
From here, Progatog mentioned similarities in my first draft team to theirs where I had FWG core with Empoleon, Hisuian-Arcanine and Rillaboom to theirs, while expressing interest in creating the team as a Soft TR style team, or even a Tailroom team. Merging the two concepts together alongside another niche pick, we ended up with the following team:
https://pokepast.es/da83949e3aa64342
Empoleon/Hisuian-Arcanine/Rillaboom all filled the FWG core defensively, while giving us a myriad of offensive options and utility. Since both of these Pokémon are quite splashable, it felt very easy to slot them into the team. Illumise and Farigiraf were added for their Tailwind/Trick Room combination while giving us both Priority utility unique to Illumise and Armor Tail for Priority denial.
Sets and Breakdown
Empoleon @ Assault Vest
Ability: Competitive Tera Type: Grass EVs: 172 HP / 76 Def / 228 SpA / 4 SpD / 28 Spe Modest Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Water Pledge - Flash Cannon - Ice Beam - Vacuum Wave
Calcs:
- -1 252+ Atk Urshifu-Rapid Strike Close Combat vs. 172 HP / 76 Def Empoleon: 152-182 (83.9 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
- 252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Stomping Tantrum vs. 172 HP / 76 Def Empoleon: 156-186 (86.1 - 102.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
- 252+ Atk Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 172 HP / 76 Def Empoleon in Grassy Terrain: 144-171 (79.5 - 94.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
- -1 252+ Atk Iron Hands Wild Charge vs. 172 HP / 76 Def Empoleon: 120-144 (66.2 - 79.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
The top one being the main calc, 28 Spe allows Empoleon to outspeed base 100s (such as, and mainly, Chi-Yu) in Tailwind.
Hydro Pump can easily be used over Water Pledge if you don't mind the miss chance, with the niche bonus that Water Pledge cannot be redirected by Storm Drain. Ice Beam is for additional coverage into Tornadus/Rillaboom/Amoonguss/Landorus-T.
Vacuum Wave is a great priority move, and definitely does non-insignificant damage. It can help you chip things into range for your harder hitters.
Alternative coverage can be stuff such as Grass Knot or Tera Blast with your Tera, and it is definitely entirely up to preference here. Tera-Fly with Tera Blast can also work in this slot as well, although you retain the Electric weakness.
Things to watch out for is the poor coverage into Water-types. hence the aforementioned recommendation. It never felt particularly bad though, with the rest of the team providing strong neutral/SE options into Water-types.
Hisuian-Arcanine @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate Tera Type: Fairy EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 180 Spe Adamant Nature - Rock Slide - Extreme Speed - Flare Blitz - Tera Blast
Six-time Regional Champion H-Arcanine (and LAIC) is definitely a premier offensive Pokémon with one of the best abilities in the current physically skewed metagame: Intimidate. Access to Extreme Speed also makes it an amazing closer in developed endgames.
H-Arc is EV'd to outspeed Max Spe Adamant Dragonite to try and compete with its Extreme Speeds.
Tera Blast Fairy gives you an option to remove Iron Hands/Urshifu if necessary, while the rest is just standard moveset for H-Arcanine.
I also personally experimented with Tera Ghost H-Arcanine, opting for Psychic Fangs over Tera Blast. The logic here is that you shed Fake Out pressure, Fighting Weakness and the ability to escape Sucker Punch through Extreme Speed (Sucker Punch has +1 priority, while Extreme Speed has +2), making it slightly more difficult for opponents to try and prevent H-Arc from dealing damage with stronger priority.
Rillaboom @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Grassy Surge Tera Type: Grass EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe Adamant Nature - Grassy Glide - Fake Out - High Horsepower - Wood Hammer
Definitely a more "out-there" set for Rillaboom. I opted for the offensive strength of Tera-Grass as I am unconcerned about my matchup into Tornadus/Heatran/Chi-Yu due to the presence of Empoleon and H-Arcanine.
This allows me to have a very consistent and strong way to KO key Pokémon such as demonstrated by the following calcs:
- 252+ Atk Miracle Seed Tera-Grass Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 68 HP / 116 Def Flutter Mane in Grassy Terrain: 140-166 (100.7 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ Atk Miracle Seed Tera-Grass Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 188 HP / 4 Def Urshifu-Rapid Strike in Grassy Terrain: 208-248 (104.5 - 124.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ Atk Miracle Seed Tera-Grass Rillaboom Helping Hand Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Iron Hands in Grassy Terrain: 316-374 (121 - 143.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ Atk Miracle Seed Tera-Grass Rillaboom Helping Hand Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia in Grassy Terrain: 230-272 (101.3 - 119.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ Atk Miracle Seed Tera-Grass Rillaboom Helping Hand Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Dusclops in Grassy Terrain: 136-162 (92.5 - 110.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
You can still opt for a defensive Tera, as an offensive set like this definitely benefits!
The ability to remove most neutral hits with either strong priority in Grassy Glide or a big button in Wood Hammer is very valued as the aforementioned matchups.
High Horsepower also gives me a favourable matchup into Heatran, while potentially forcing it into a neutral Tera that I can take advantage of down the line.
This offensive set was taken from a different team I was using where my main way of Speed Control was Icy Wind, and 164 Spe EVs was meant to attempt to outspeed Modest Flutter Mane at -1 (187 x 0.67), but this allows us to outspeed Scarfed Base 100s in Tailwind!
Illumise @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster Tera Type: Ghost EVs: 236 HP / 188 Def / 84 SpD Bold Nature IVs: 0 Atk Tailwind - Encore - Fake Tears - Infestation
Calcs:
- 252+ Atk Choice Band Sword of Ruin Tera-Normal Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 236 HP / 188+ Def Illumise: 144-169 (84.7 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Mystic Water Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 236 HP / 188+ Def Illumise on a critical hit: 150-180 (88.2 - 105.8%) -- approx. 12.5% chance to OHKO
- 252 SpA Tornadus Bleakwind Storm vs. 236 HP / 84 SpD Illumise: 132-156 (77.6 - 91.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Credits to Carson Confer for this build. Another Pokémon I never thought I would use but is basically Whimsicott-lite, this came from Progatog's draft. Tailwind access with Prankster Encore can provide you a great level of board control, while being able to pressure trapping with Infestation. Definitely it's own niche.
Fake Tears also enables Empoleon to do great damage output to improve its offensive pressure.
Mental Herb prevents Tornadus from being able to Taunt freely.
Alternatives to Fake Tears are possible, such as Charm, Thunder Wave, or Protect to let you scout safely for Encore locks.
Farigiraf @ Rocky Helmet
Original Art by Bellbessa (@DO9Bessa on Twitter)
Ability: Armor Tail Tera Type: Fairy EVs: 204 HP / 108 Def / 28 SpA / 140 SpD / 28 Spe Modest Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Helping Hand - Dazzling Gleam - Trick Room - Psychic
Calcs:
- 252 SpA Choice Specs Tera-Fairy Flutter Mane Moonblast vs. 204 HP / 140 SpD Farigiraf: 186-220 (84.1 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Mystic Water Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 204 HP / 108 Def Farigiraf on a critical hit: 186-222 (84.1 - 100.4%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO
- 252 Atk Sword of Ruin Chien-Pao Lash Out vs. 204 HP / 108 Def Farigiraf: 186-222 (84.1 - 100.4%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
- 252+ Atk Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 204 HP / 108 Def Farigiraf: 188-224 (85 - 101.3%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
Farigiraf adds important utility: Anti-Priority with Armor Tail and Helping Hand to assist with offensive pressure. Trick Room gives us an alternative Speed Control option compared to Illumise since we also have a fairly slower team.
28 Spe allows us to outspeed base 100s like Chi-Yu in Tailwind (bit of a running theme).
Generally I dislike matching speeds in a single team, but in this case there has never been a board state where I needed to have Empoleon outspeed Farigiraf or vice versa, and in fact also allows me to gauge speed tiers with one for the other.
Dazzling Gleam gives us spread damage and a way to chip both slots and covers Dark-types.
With Farigiraf, the team actually feels solid with these initial 5 members, giving room for the final slot to be...
The Flex Slot
While considering the final team member, we considered what matchups can tougher to deal with and what we thought the team might lack.
- I wanted Dark coverage to deal with Farigiraf as a lot of our team has its offense and utility tied with priority. Psyspam (Armarouge-Indeedee) was also another matchup I would like a little bit more insurance with.
- The team could use some more spread damage, as redirection can potentially be an issue. Mainly Follow Me, as Rillaboom can happily ignore Rage Powder.
- The FWG core we have benefits from a Dragon typing within the team, and since we had Fake Tears, we had another option to be considered. This option provides strong spread damage, something the team currently lacks.
We'll begin with my choice for the team, and I shall touch on the member Progatog has opted for, plus an alternative third option.
Roaring Moon @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 196 Spe Adamant Nature - Knock Off Acrobatics - Protect - Brick Break
Roaring Moon here is EV'd to maximise its damage output. 196 Spe allows it to naturally outspeed Jolly Urshifu. Having it be slightly slower than base 100 can also allow us to take advantage of Trick Room. HP/Def/SpD is simply a dump.
One important thing to note here is Brick Break. This allows Roaring Moon to pressure Kingambit to either force it to switch, Tera or Protect. Kingambit being on the rise is definitely something we have accounted for, and even simply forcing it to Tera can be useful for the rest of the team.
Regidrago @ Dragon Fang/Draco Plate
Regidrago is one of the strongest spread attackers in the game; provided you can get it into a position to take advantage of Dragon Energy. This fits 2/3 of our criteria of Dragon Typing + Spread Damage.
Of course, to find out more about this dynamic, check out Progatog's video on it!
Honorable Mentions
Galarian-Moltres @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Berserk Tera Type: Poison EVs: 244 HP / 4 Def / 196 SpA / 4 SpD / 60 Spe Calm Nature IVs: 0 Atk Air Slash - Fiery Wrath - Nasty Plot - Protect
Galarian-Moltres also fits our criteria of being able to assist with the aforementined matchups, and provide spread damage. However, having G-Moltres also gives us a weaker option into something like Kingambit, which is what somewhat put me off.
I also feel Moltres does not have strong immediate offense, which can slow down your team momentum as well.
But for the slow start that it has, it can take advantage of Fake Tears/Tailwind support, and overall increase the team's damage ceiling due to it's set-up potential.
Urshifu @ Focus Sash/Choice Scarf
Ability: Unseen Fist Tera Type: Poison / Dark EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Wicked Blow - Close Combat - Sucker Punch - Detect / U-Turn
Urshifu gives us a way to deal constant, consistent damage and can benefit off of both Tailwind and Trick Room. Preferrably, I'd opt for Single-Strike Urshifu for that Dark coverage that can be beneficial.
This also gives us either a nice closer with Focus Sash/Choice Scarf, or pivot power which the team can lack for repositioning.
Not much else to say since this simply acts as another big button for us to press.
Gameplan
Anti-Intimidate/Balance
Roaring Moon and Empoleon make a good lead to deter Intimidates and give space for Roaring Moon to start clearing slots. Farigiraf in the back can be useful to prevent priority such as Fake Out that attempts to stop your momentum, and give you an alternative Trick Room mode when the game slows down/Roaring Moon is lost.
The last slot can either be Rillaboom as a strong closer or H-Arcanine if you feel Intimidate could also be valuable.
For a Balance mode, you can run H-Arcanine instead of Farigiraf for Dragon + FWG.
Trick Room
This is a lead I opt for into Tailwind-oriented teams. Fake Out on Rillaboom can let you set-up Trick Room quite comfortably, while allowing you to have a turn of using Wood Hammer to deal heavy damage and sacrifice it to safely bring in H-Arcanine.
With Helping Hand boosted Rock Slides, you can deal some serious damage and close with Empoleon.
This lead also works if you are going to face Amoonguss, as you can try and use Helping Hand boosted Wood Hammers to remove its side-slot.
Tailwind
This is your fast mode. With Illumise helping control the flow of the game, this lets you play a higher-tempo game with strong damage output. Highly recommended into teams without Intimidates.
Psyspam
Use Roaring Moon to try and get rid of Indeedee on the first go, with Farigiraf either resetting Trick Room or using Helping Hand to boost the damage output. It is also preferrable to try and not Tera-Acrobatics if it can be helped. Just to note though, Tera-Flying HH Acrobatics ALWAYS OHKOs Indeedee. Rillaboom can then allow you to reset Psychic Terrain and have Fake Out/Grassy-Glide pressure, with H-Arcanine potentially being able to also provide strong priority.
Notable Matchups
Iron Hands can be particularly tough due to stacked Fighting weaknesses. You really want to either take it out with H-Arc or Rillaboom, or force an Encore lock into it if it used Fake Out.
Drain Punch allowing it to sustain can also put you in a tricky spot if you didn't position well.
Gholdengo + Amoonguss can be a bit of a tricky lead. It makes me wish I had Taunt of some to be able to comfortably break through it. Rillaboom can alleviate some of the pressure as Wood Hammer can be a 2HKO or even an OHKO with Helping Hand support, but it leaves the Amoonguss slot fairly free.
The trickiness also somes in calling whether or not Amoonguss is going to Tera, where you can use Roaring Moon to try and get rid of it quickly.
Closing and Rental
The great thing about this team is the flexibility of that sixth slot, allowing you to genuinely fit in almost anything you want comfortably. I also never felt that the team really "lacked" answers and most losses felt more like either a misplay, or misposition. Empoleon gave me such a pleasant surprise and I am glad that I could use it to such success.
I managed to hit 1481 elo with a 68.3% GXE in Bo3 OTS Ladder which to me at least is some concrete evidence of its consistency. It can definitely achieve a higher result, and feels super skill-expressive to pilot, which comes with the caveat of not being immediately the easiest to run.
Thank you for reading, and if you appreciate my content, you can find my Ko-Fi in the sidebar!
