Tofu's Table 8, Set Showcase!

Pokemon VGC ScarletViolet Tofu's Table Regulation F

Hello again, Tofu and Snorlax here. To quickly run through the intro, this blogpost is a follow up to my Cores Course! I wanted to showcase some sets/cores whose teams I didn't feel were entirely worth the real estate of an entire blogpost, but would be a total shame if I didn't share them. You'll also recognise some callbacks to some old sets!

These sets are meant to inspire showing you with some effort and creativity you too can win with your favourite Pokémon, and also be complementary to the Cores Course, which serves as great scaffold to help support this endeavour!

Counterlax

Snorlax @ Figy Berry  
Ability: Thick Fat    
Tera Type: Ghost  
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Def / 92 SpD  
Impish Nature  
- Yawn  
- Helping Hand  
- Counter  
- Double-Edge

Calcs:

  • 252+ Atk Urshifu-Single Strike Close Combat vs. 164 HP / 252+ Def Snorlax: 212-252 (82.8 - 98.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ Atk Urshifu-Single Strike Wicked Blow vs. 164 HP / 252+ Def Tera-Ghost Snorlax on a critical hit: 200-236 (78.1 - 92.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ Atk Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 164 HP / 252+ Def Snorlax in Rain on a critical hit: 210-252 (82 - 98.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • +2 252+ Atk Dondozo Wave Crash vs. 164 HP / 252+ Def Snorlax: 177-208 (69.1 - 81.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ SpA Choice Specs Beads of Ruin Tera-Fire Chi-Yu Overheat vs. 164 HP / 92 SpD Thick Fat Snorlax in Sun: 214-254 (83.5 - 99.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • +2 252+ Def Registeel Body Press vs. 164 HP / 252+ Def Snorlax: 210-248 (82 - 96.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

To kick things off, it is my pleasure to show off this Snorlax set which I took to Top 500 three times (Every time the ladder shifted, I would restore my position).

A more supportive set, but not without its moments, this set punishes the opponent for both targeting and ignoring Snorlax.

Yawn provides board control. It punishes set-up turns quite well, while continuously sapping momentum from the opponent. With Yawn pressure, this gives incentive to remove Snorlax off the board as quickly as possible. The thing is, particularly for Physical attackers, you cannot safely target Snorlax without potentially getting punished by Counter.

Counter also particularly ignores stat changes and Burns.

Helping Hand allows Snorlax to have a value-adding turn against Fake Out leads, particularly when paired with something like Flutter Mane, while Double-Edge just allows for good chip damage.

Pinch Berries give more value here compared to Leftovers for a couple of reasons:

  • Immediate burst recovery allows Snorlax to potentially live a double-up into a Counter
  • No Protect means there is no possibility to stall and gain more value from Leftovers. You need to have Leftovers to run for 6+ turns continuously to gain more value compared to a Pinch Berry (6/16 > 1/3).

Alternative sets can include Heavy Slam over Counter to easily remove opposing Flutter Mane, but it has little value elsewhere. Hence I opted to just stick with Counter since it gained my far more value.

Justify your sets! If it works consistently with strong reasoning, run it. Keep in mind that you have to be able to play around the choices you make. I can accomodate for the inability to hit Ghost-types throughout the rest of the team.

A Floral Churchaludon

Archaludon @ Assault Vest  
Ability: Stamina  
Tera Type: Grass  
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 4 SpA / 236 SpD / 4 Spe  
Modest Nature  
- Snarl  
- Body Press  
- Breaking Swipe  
- Flash Cannon  
Comfey @ Sitrus Berry  
Ability: Triage  
Tera Type: Steel  
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 84 SpA / 4 SpD / 60 Spe  
Modest Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Draining Kiss  
- Floral Healing  
- Helping Hand  
- Tailwind / Taunt

Archaludon Calcs:

  • 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 236 SpD Assault Vest Archaludon: 166-198 (84.2 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
  • 252 Atk Urshifu-Single Strike Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Archaludon: 164-194 (83.2 - 98.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Comfey Calcs:

  • 84+ SpA Comfey Draining Kiss vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Urshifu-Single Strike: 172-208 (98.2 - 118.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
  • 252+ Atk Mystic Water Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 108 Def Comfey on a critical hit: 168-204 (106.3 - 129.1%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO
  • 252 SpA Protosynthesis Tera-Fairy Flutter Mane Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Comfey: 134-158 (84.8 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

Everyone knows about the semi-popular Rain sweeper Archaludon, with Electro Shot charging up it's offenses, but let me introduce you to the true Church of Archaludon. This Archaludon/Comfey combo allowed me to hit 80% GXE in top 150 of the ladder, something I celebrated soon after.

The logic is as follows:

  • Archaludon uses it's moveset to remove any attempts on the opponent's end to build momentum, disrupting any setup potential as well.
  • Attempts to punish Archaludon for slower play just leads to value due to Stamina.
  • Irregardless of your sideslot, once it goes down, Comfey comes in and allows Archaludon to sustain heavily and truly benefit off the Stamina boosts.

The great defensive typing, and ramping bulk creates difficulty in removing Archaludon. More resources has to be allocated towards Archaludon since it also cannot be ignored. Comfey here also carries Draining Kiss, which can help trigger an extra Stamina proc and finish off low HP Pokémon. Taunt allows you to deal with Pokémon such as Amoonguss, which opens up a Tera-type change on Archaludon from Grass to Fairy to account for Dark-Urshifu.

Alternatively, you can even go as far as Calm nature on Archaludon to take less immediate damage from Landorus-Incarnate leads.

Flash Cannon is opted here for a wider range of usage, outweighing the potential OHKO on Flutter Mane's (which isn't even guaranteed on certain bulkier variants).

Gholdengo-Away

Gholdengo @ Choice Specs  
Ability: Good as Gold  
Tera Type: Steel  
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  
Modest Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Make It Rain  
- Trick  
- Shadow Ball  
- Steel Beam / Thunderbolt / Dazzling Gleam

Tired of those annoying Balance teams with their utility? Or those Set-Up teams giving you trouble? Welcome to one of the answers to your problems.

A reminder of a set from the beginning of Scarlet/Violet VGC, Trick allows you to disable those pesky opponents, locking away any utility/set-up by passing away Choice Specs. Keep in mind that if the opposing Pokémon moves before you, they still have an opportunity to pick a different move. Of course, this is just the cherry on top, with the main cake of the set being the potential overwhelming damage output you can use to tempo the game in your favour!

Calm Moon

Ursaluna-Bloodmoon @ Safety Goggles  
Ability: Mind's Eye   
Tera Type: Fairy  
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 36 SpA / 164 SpD / 4 Spe  
Modest Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Calm Mind  
- Hyper Voice  
- Earth Power  
- Protect

Calcs:

  • 252+ Atk Urshifu-Single Strike Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 52 Def Ursaluna-Bloodmoon: 186-218 (84.5 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • SpA 1st Bump
  • SpDef dump

An alternative set for Ursaluna, this trades the sheer overwhelming power for longevity and set-up potential that pairs well with Balance.

The reasoning behind this set is to have a bulky Special-Attacking Ground-type Pokémon. Ursaluna-Bloodmoon has also strong spread damage that has no switch-in immunity, and is able to challenge and mix-up Raging Bolts in the same team comp.

With Safety Goggles and Tera-Fairy, you can better challenge Urshifu-Single-Strike and Amoonguss as well.

A consideration is to take EVs out of SpDef to invest in Speed. With 108 EVs in Spe, you outspeed 36-Spe invested Incineroars to avoid most Parting Shots and OHKO non-SpDef bulky variants with Earth Power.

Another one is to sacrifice Hyper Voice for Blood Moon, with the plan to cycle Protect in between your turns. This is because we're less likely to deal with Redirection due to Safety Goggles.

Howl, Howl, Howl

Dragapult (F) @ Choice Band  
Ability: Clear Body  
Level: 50  
Tera Type: Ghost  
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Dragon Darts  
- Tera Blast  
- Phantom Force  
- U-turn 
Gouging Fire @ Booster Energy  
Ability: Protosynthesis  
Tera Type: Grass / Fairy 
EVs: 196 HP / 36 Atk / 4 Def / 20 SpD / 252 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Burning Bulwark  
- Howl  
- Breaking Swipe  
- Heat Crash
Corviknight (M) @ Sitrus Berry  
Ability: Mirror Armor  
Tera Type: Flying / Dragon / Fire
EVs: 244 HP / 100 Atk / 76 Def / 20 SpD / 68 Spe  
Adamant Nature  
- Brave Bird  
- Iron Head  
- Tailwind  
- Roost

Gouging Fire Calcs:

  • 252 SpA Choice Specs Tera-Fairy Flutter Mane Moonblast vs. 196 HP / 20 SpD Gouging Fire: 172-204 (83.9 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ Atk Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 196 HP / 4 Def Gouging Fire on a critical hit: 93-111 (45.3 - 54.1%) -- approx. 31.6% chance to 2HKO

Corviknight Calcs:

  • Lives Choice-Band Dragonite's Outrage + Chien-Pao's Icicle Crash
  • Iron Head kills most Flutter Manes
  • Outspeeds Jolly Roaring Moon + Speed-creeping Timid Flutter Manes
  • Atk 2nd Bump

A different brainchild of mine building off the Corviknight-Gouging Fire pair. I figured everyone has forgotten about the offensive power of Choice Band Dragapult.

Clear Body + Ghost-Type lets you comfortably play around Incineroar. Tera Blast Ghost provides a strong STAB nuke option, while Phantom Force can create strong pins due to it's ability to bypass and break Protect and Protect-like moves.

This, with Corviknight also punishing Intimidators and stat-droppers with Mirror Armor and providing Speed Control in the mirror lets Gouging Fire play a bit more comfortably as well.

Grass/Fairy-Tera is appropriate on Gouging Fire considering what you want to try and deal with. One avoids Rage Powder/Spore to allow for double-ups and better board positioning, while Fairy-Tera resists Urshifu-Single-Strike and avoids dealing with Breaking Swipe in the mirror (although at the risk of getting burned by Burning Bulwark).

Tinker-a-ton

Tinkaton @ Sitrus Berry  
Ability: Mold Breaker  
Tera Type: Water  
EVs: 220 HP / 36 Atk / 68 Def / 4 SpD / 180 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Gigaton Hammer  
- Play Rough  
- Fake Out  
- Feint / Encore / Helping Hand / Thunder Wave / Taunt

Calcs:

  • 252+ Atk Mystic Water Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 220 HP / 68 Def Tinkaton on a critical hit: 198-234 (105.3 - 124.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  • 36 Atk Tinkaton Play Rough vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Urshifu-Rapid Strike: 86-104 (48.8 - 59%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO
  • 36 Atk Tinkaton Gigaton Hammer vs. 212 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane: 198-234 (126.1 - 149%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • Outspeeds Adamant Urshifu

Bringing back the Pokémon that let me hit Rank 1, Tinkaton has been eyeing a niche where Mold Breaker allows you to Fake Out opposing Pokémon without needing to respect Armor Tail. Fake Out will also affect Pokémon with Inner Focus, an Ability that prevents flinching.

Usually paired with Gouging Fire, Howl compensates for Tinkaton's lack of offensive pressure on it's own.

A variety of supportive moves, Feint lets you clean up low-HP Pokémon or Break Sashes, and having the additional effect of breaking Protects, something an offensive team like Gouging-Fire set-up really appreciates. Mold Breaker also lets Feint ignore Armor Tail just like Fake Out, with Feint having equal Priority to Extreme Speed (+2).

Encore let's you lock certain Pokémon and force switches/create pins, while Thunder Wave adds a Speed Control aspect to the set. Taunt is an all-around useful move to have to stop things like Amoonguss/Trick Room and disrupt other supportive Pokémon.

Hydrapplying Pressure

Hydrapple @ Rocky Helmet  
Ability: Regenerator   
Tera Type: Steel / Fire / Water / Fairy 
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD  
Modest Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Yawn  
- Fickle Beam  
- Pollen Puff / Leaf Storm / Energy Ball
- Protect / Earth Power

Calcs:

  • 252+ Atk Choice Band Tera-Dark Urshifu-Single Strike Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 92 Def Hydrapple on a critical hit: 180-212 (84.5 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ SpA Flutter Mane Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 164 SpD Hydrapple: 182-216 (85.4 - 101.4%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
  • 0+ SpA Hydrapple Fickle Beam (160 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Urshifu-Rapid Strike: 174-205 (98.8 - 116.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

An alternative method to using Hydrapple, rather than be a Trick Room sweeper, having it take space as a pseudo-Amoonguss that doesn't care about Safety Goggles.

Using Yawn Pressure allows Hydrapple to control the board for it's partner, while having Regenerator to safely switch out and recover. Rocky Helmet just lets you generate chip against some Physical Pokémon, further increasing the trade-value since Regenerator lets you recover that lost HP trade.

Modest Fickle Beam acts as a pseudo-roll, saving EVs, meaning you technically always have a 30% chance to severely punish or even OHKO certain switches (due to Yawn forcing them to switch) without investment. Dragon-type having only one immunity makes it a decent button to click as well, with the boost compensating for any "Not Very Effective" hits.

Pollen Puff lets Hydrapple play a healer role as well, keeping the team healthy.

Protect can stall out the initial Yawn drowsy turn, while Earth Power gives you additional coverage to hit Steel-types properly.

 

END

Thank you very much for reading! I hope this post has been useful, I put in a lot of work particularly for the new designs. I taught myself how to animate sprites (The Ursaluna and Gouging Fire) at a basic level just for the sake of this blogpost!

Acknowledgements

  • All sprites, unless specified, are credited towards Smogon's Sprite Project / Pokemon Assets
    • Tinkaton and Hydrapple sprites by hellfire0raptor
    • BM-Ursaluna sprite by KingOfThe-X-Roads
    • Gouging Fire sprite by CUBER
    • Archaludon sprite by RetroNC
    • Comfey sprite from the SS NU Matchmaking Week 23 Smogon Forum  (somewhere)
  • Corviknight set adapted from Andrew Armstrong's post