【Victory Road to Columbus優勝】THE RETURN OF THE KING 王の復活

レンタルチームID: 0000 0001 35GB 43

English Version Below:

はじめに

みなさんこんにちは。シンガポールのJude Lee (@maGicaUraVGC)です。日本のコミュニティではCoalossalVGCやマギカウラとしても知られています。

この記事では、私がシリーズ12全体を通して使い続けてきたセキタンザン構築の進化についてお話ししたいと思います。

構築経緯

GSルールが発表されたとき、何を使うべきかわかりませんでした。初めはホワイトキュレム＋ゴチルゼルという変な構築を使っていましたが、ゲームプランが単調で、極めて流行していた多くのザシアン構築に有利ではないと感じました。私はシリーズ11とシリーズ7/9でセキタンザンをずっと使っていましたが、カイオーガ＋ザシアン構築が最も流行していると思われるこのルールにおいても有効であるかは疑わしいと思っていました。

しかし、私の良い友達のMarco Silva(@marc0fier0)がシリーズ12におけるスタンダードなセキタンザン構築を教えてくれました。セキタンザンはシリーズ11において私にたくさんの良い成績をもたらしてくれていたため、興味を持ちました。その構築はウーラオス、セキタンザン、ザシアン、ゴリランダー、ガオガエンが採用されているという点でシリーズ11で私が使っていたものと非常に似ており、変更点としてガラルファイヤーがイベルタルになっていました。どちらもあく/ひこうタイプで、ダイジェットを使うという役割を持っています。その週末に控えていたVictory Roadの大会に向けて早速練習を始め、結果TOP16という成績を残すことができ、セキタンザンがこのルールにおいても少なくとも自分的には強いアーキタイプであることがわかりました。さらに改良を加えようと思いました。

Version 1.1: https://pokepast.es/fd5e6e7b0c880ce6

これはシリーズ12の最初に使っていたセキタンザン構築です。シリーズ11で使っていたものとごく一部を除いてほとんど同一の配分となっています。黒バドレックスなど、イベルタルではない禁止伝説との組み合わせも試しました。しかし、前のめりな性質がこのパーティには合っていないと感じました。常にセキタンザンでダイマックスをしなければならない点が不安定で、カイオーガ構築に対して大きく不利をとってしまいます。他に悪かった点としては、バドレックスとウーラオスの両方にきあいのタスキが必要となる点で、GSルールの強力な攻撃に対してはきあいのタスキがなければどちらもすぐに倒されてしまいます。これに比べるとイベルタルは安定していると感じ、あく/ひこうタイプのポケモンを使うことにも慣れていました。理由としては

1. ザシアンとウーラオスにダイジェットの素早さ上昇を乗せる動きが非常に強力
2. あくタイプは相手の黒バドレックスに非常に強く、シリーズ11でガラルファイヤーを3ヶ月使い続けた経験からもこれらに対してより安心感があった（また、相手のいたずらごころトリックやワイドフォースを無効化できるのも素晴らしい）

しかしながら、このパーティにはいくつかの欠陥がありました。

• ガオガエンの素早さを上げたが、それでも相手のガオガエンに抜かれる場面があり、上からねこだましをされるのかすてゼリフ/じごくづき/ちょうはつをされるのかの択がストレスだった。
• 耐久のないザシアンはこのメタゲームにおいてはすぐに倒されてしまうため合っていない（最速にする意味が全くなかった）。

そこで、配分を変更したものをFebruary VR challengeで使用し、TOP8の成績を残すことができました。

Version 1.2: https://pokepast.es/d0e55e064396d159

ここでは、少し耐久を上げたが十分に速いザシアン（Chongjun(@ChongjunVGC)がSalt Lake City Regionals優勝したパーティのザシアン抜き）を使用しました。Marcoがベースを作った配分を教えてくれたSebastian Li (@ApronVGC)に感謝です。また、ガオガエンのちょうはつをしっとのほのおに変更しました。調整している中で、化身ボルトロスや霊獣ランドロスが問題になりうることがわかり、特に誤って相手のボルトロスのまけんきを発動させてしまった場合は非常に問題になりますが、しっとのほのおがあれば解決できます。また、しっとのほのおの存在を相手に意識させることで、ダイジェット/ダイアース/ダイナックルなどではなく、ダイロックやダイサンダーなどといった技を強要させることもできます。しっとのほのおが一度通ればほぼ確実に勝利できます。

Marcoはこの形をEUICに持ち込み、Day1を6勝3敗でTop64になりました。私は3月のINCで最高レート1924、最終もTop40で日本人を除くとTop5に入ることができ、VR to Frankfurtの大会でも7勝2敗でした。

この形は非常に安定していると感じましたが、パルキア＋白バドレックスのアーキタイプが増えてきていました。これを対処するために、とつげきチョッキイベルタルのバークアウトやイカサマ、パルキアに対して強いみがわり＋じゃれつくザシアンを使いながらウーラオスでダメージを稼ぐプランを取っていましたが、相手のモロバレルの眠りターンによって左右されるため不安定でリスキーであると感じていました。世界大会の出場権がかかったシンガポールの全国大会も近づいていたため、このマッチアップに対して修正をしたいと思いました。

Version 1.3: https://pokepast.es/1d286d2dac991d25

この形は非常に良いと感じました。珍しいが独創的な要素の一つが、ぼうじんゴーグルイベルタルです。全くメジャーではありませんが、非常にうまくはまりました。ぼうじんゴーグル＋ちょうはつによって、相手のモロバレルのいかりのこなを無視しながらトリックルーム役にちょうはつを入れることができ、トリックルームを阻止できます。パルキア選出に対しては相手のパルキアダイマックスに対してバークアウトをするかどうかの択になりますが、トリックルームを阻止できる選択肢を得たことでプレイング次第で解決できるようになりました。ちょうはつは他の場面でも役に立ち、相手のガオガエンのすてゼリフやオーロンゲの壁やでんじはなどを止められるのもよかったです。

セキタンザンとウーラオスにも大きな変更を加えました。まず、セキタンザンの耐久を大きく上げ、てだすけ＋きょじゅうざんやグラードンのだんがいのつるぎを耐えられるようにしました。この変更を加えようと思ったのは、友人のFrancesco Deiana(@the10phoenix)とその友人のDresiopがEUICでずぶといカメックスを使用していたことで、ボルトロスのダイサンダーやゴリランダーのグラススライダーなどの抜群技を耐えるものでした。このように、セキタンザンの性格をずぶといにすることで、てだすけ＋きょじゅうざんを耐えることでき、A-1グラードンのだんがいのつるぎを2発耐えることができます。これにより多くのマッチアップが楽になり、50%の択に頼らざるを得ない場面が少なくなりました。

ウーラオスについてはAsuya(Emanuele Ciliberto / @AsuyaXVII)の構築記事を参考に性格をいじっぱりにしました。彼はシリーズ10の黒バドレックス構築でいじっぱりウーラオスを使用していました。試してみたところ、ようきでは届かなかった相手を倒せるようになるなどとても強いと感じました。

ゴリランダーも相手のカイオーガのしおふきやダイストリームを耐えるように耐久を上げ、サイクルをしやすくするためにウッドハンマーをとんぼがえりにしました。ウッドハンマーはあまり使用機会がなく、ゴリランダーができるだけ長く生き残ってサイクルするほうが強いと感じたためです。

最後に、ザシアンも耐久を大きく伸ばしました。前述の通り、この環境では相手にダメージを与えるだけでなく、相手の攻撃を耐えることも非常に重要です。そのため、ザシアンの耐久を上げ、多くの攻撃を耐えられるようにしました。主に、相手のザシアンのきょじゅうざんをみがわりを1回使った後でも耐えたり、相手のとつげきチョッキカイオーガのダイストリームを耐えられる可能性があります。素早さを下げましたが、これでも相手のサンダーやリザードンと、それ抜きの耐久振り化身ボルトロスは抜くことができます。

この形でVictory Roadの大会で優勝でき、VR World Cup Openでも惜しくもトップカットは逃しましたが6-3でした。Sam Pandelis(@mihoskies)がこの形に少し変更を加えたとつげきチョッキイベルタルの形でメルボルンリージョナルで優勝しました。シンガポール全国大会の予選スイスドローでも2位でした。

しかし、さらに調整していく中で、変更が必要な点を見つけました。

• とつげきチョッキはゴリランダーに持たせたほうが良い。10まんばりきを採用できて技範囲が広がり、相手のカイオーガに対してはいのちのたまでないダイアイスを耐えられるなどより安定するようになる。（黒バドレックスの攻撃も耐えることができる。また、きせきのタネの火力上昇は無意味な場面がある）
• ザシアンは相手の化身ボルトロスを抜けるラインまで素早さを上げたほうが良い。ザシアン＋イベルタルの先発で相手のザシアン＋ボルトロスと対面してしまった場合にこちらのザシアンが相手のボルトロスを抜いていないと厳しい。

では、始めましょう！

個別解説

書ききれなかったダメージ計算はこちらに記載: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dq2-aL8lsTSuLIK5-LgUlTUU6wYyK-LPKoUd1MiPPvI/edit

セキタンザン

特性	じょうききかん
持ち物	じゃくてんほけん
性格	ずぶとい
実数値(努力値)	208(180)-*-160(44)-111(84)-111(4)-75(196)
技	まもる/メテオビーム ねっぷう/ソーラービーム

このアーキタイプの中心です。セキタンザンは見せ合い画面で相手に大きな圧をかけることができます。これは自分にとって大きなアドバンテージで、相手にたくさんの考慮を強要させることができ、相手がセキタンザンに対するカウンターを用意してきた際に、それに対するさらなるカウンターを仕掛けることもできます。キョダイフンセキはソードシールドのダイマックス環境においてとてつもなく強力で、特に現環境（とシリーズ11）では相手にいわタイプがほとんどいないため全てのポケモンに対して定数ダメージが入ることになり、相手のポケモンのHPを400%のうち128%も削ることになります。カイオーガ以外の多くのアーキタイプに対して強く、黒バドレックス＋ボルトロス＋ザシアンに非常に有利で、グラードンに対しても晴れの恩恵をこちらも受けられるため五分です。

耐久を上げたセキタンザンについては上述の通りで、火力は相手のダイマックスしたサンダーやボルトロスを倒せるため十分です。素早さはじょうききかん発動後、こわいかおを受けてもザシアンや黒バドレックスを抜けるようにしました。ソーラービームは相手のトリトドンをより確実に対処でき、ダイマックスが終わった後グラードンへの打点になります。

イベルタル

特性	ダークオーラ
持ち物	ぼうじんゴーグル
性格	おくびょう
実数値(努力値)	223(172)-*-129(108)-152(4)-122(28)-158(196)
技	バークアウト/デスウイング ちょうはつ/イカサマ

このパーティで過小評価されている部分です。イベルタルとガラルファイヤーはシリーズ11/12で使ってきましたが、ダイマックスしてもしていなくても機能する点で重要でした。相手の火力を下げるためにバークアウト、相手のすてゼリフやいたずらごころの妨害などを阻止するためにちょうはつを採用しています。相手の黒バドレックスに対して非常に強く、シリーズ12ではルナアーラに対しても強いです。

試合における柔軟性をもたらしてくれ、1ターン目にダイマックスするかバークアウトでサポートするかを悩んで選択できます。ダイジェットによるサポートもこのパーティにおいては重要で、ウーラオスやザシアンに素早さ上昇を乗せると非常に強力です。

配分は防御的で、最速霊獣ランドロスやグラードン/カイオーガ、ひかえめルナアーラを抜けます。

ザシアン

特性	ふとうのけん
持ち物	くちたけん
性格	いじっぱり
実数値(努力値)	199(252)-220(76)-139(28)-*-143(60)-180(92)
技	きょじゅうざん/せいなるつるぎ みがわり/まもる

技/ステータス/攻撃範囲において最も壊れた伝説のポケモンです。私の考えでは、このパーティのいけるザシアンは強力な相手の攻撃（グラードン、レジエレキ、白バドレックスなど）を耐えられる方が強く、そのように調整しましたが、それでも火力は十分高いです。みがわりは非常に良い技で、2体のねこだまし持ちで残す機会を作ることができ、相手のいかくやでんじは/こわいかお/あまえる/わたほうしなどを防ぐことができます。

配分は耐久振りで、素早さは相手のようきボルトロス、サンダー、リザードン抜きです。攻撃は11n、せいなるつるぎは相手のガオガエンやはがねタイプに対する打点で、きょじゅうざんが半減の多くの相手に有効で相性補完に優れています。

ガオガエン

特性	いかく
持ち物	シュカのみ
性格	わんぱく
実数値(努力値)	202(252)-135-143(156)-*-110-93(100)
技	フレアドライブ/すてゼリフ ねこだまし/じごくづき

特に言うことはありませんが、壊れたポケモンです。すてゼリフ、素晴らしいタイプ、特性、ねこだましの全てが壊れています。相手のザシアンやグラードンなどの脅威に対して有効です。

シュカのみはグラードンの攻撃や他のポケモンのダイアースを耐えるために必要です。ちょうはつ/しっとのほのお/DDラリアットなどよりも優先してじごくづきを採用しました。理由としては他のどの技よりも優れていたからで、ちょうはつの代わりに相手のすてゼリフを止めることができ、悪打点はイベルタルと並んだ場合にダークオーラの補正が乗って強力な打点になります。あくタイプの技を持っていることで、イベルタルが倒されてしまっても相手のルナアーラや黒バドレックスに対して打点を持つことができます。

カイオーガ以外のほぼ全ての相手に対して選出します。どんなパーティにも安定して入るポケモンです。

ゴリランダー

特性	グラスメイカー
持ち物	とつげきチョッキ
性格	いじっぱり
実数値(努力値)	201(204)-187(196)-116(44)-*-96(44)-108(20)
技	グラススライダー/とんぼがえり 10まんばりき/ねこだまし

繰り返しになりますが、どんなパーティに対しても組み込めるとても柔軟なポケモンです。相手のカイオーガやトリトドンなどの水タイプに強く、とつげきチョッキを持つことで攻撃を耐え、グラススライダーで打点を持ちます。ゴリランダーがいなければ、相手の強力なみずタイプのダイマックスに勝つことは不可能でしょう。

ガオガエン以外にもねこだましを使えるポケモンで、サイクルもでき、ウーラオスやザシアンを支えるポケモンです。ウーラオスが相手に確実に攻撃を通したり、ザシアンがみがわりを残す隙を作ったりできます。

グラススライダーは良い技であることは言うまでもないですが、多くの一般ポケモンに対して45~55%のダメージを与えられ、数の多い禁止伝説のグラードンとカイオーガへの打点となります。

配分はスタンダードなとつげきチョッキゴリランダーのもので、4振りゴリランダー+2の素早さ、Aは11nです。はたきおとすも考慮しましたが、あくタイプの技は十分であることと、とんぼがえりがサイクルでとても重要であり、10まんばりきは相手のザシアン/ガオガエン/レジエレキ(時々)/ディアルガに対する打点となるため、これらの技を優先しました。

ウーラオス（れんげきのかた）

セキタンザンのメインの起動役です。非常に強力な物理アタッカーで、相手のまもるやいかくを無視できるのが壊れています。

性格いじっぱりのおかげで、ようきでは倒せないこともあった相手を倒すことができます。技構成と配分はスタンダードなもので、火力重視のいじっぱり、余りはHPに配分しグラスフィールドの回復効率を最大化しています。

多くのマッチアップで選出し、きあいのタスキを使って多くの相手にダメージを与えていけるのがすばらしいポケモンです。相手のダイマックスレジエレキのダイマックスターンを稼ぐことなどもできます。

マッチアップ

重要なものに絞って記載します。

vs ルナアーラグラードン  (有利)

先発：＋
後発：＋

先発：＋
後発：＋

先発：＋
後発：＋or (相手にトリトドンがいる場合)

主なプランはイベルタルを最大限に活用することで、ぼうじんゴーグルのおかげでフシギバナに対しても有利です。ちょうはつはガオガエンやポリゴン2を機能停止にできます。序盤に使うことも、終盤にダイマックスしてダイジェットで素早さ上昇を乗せることもできます。ウーラオス＋セキタンザン選出も効果的で、こちらがザシアン＋イベルタル選出を使った後の相手のリザードン選出に対するカウンターになります。（この選出はたいてい相手がリザードンを出してくる自信がある場合のみ行い、それ以外の場合はリスキーです）

相手に最適なタイミングでリザードンダイマックスをうまく通されない限りは勝つことができます。それゆえ、時には初手でリザードンと対面した場合であってもダイマックスを温存する必要があったり、リザードンを展開される前に他のポケモンをすべて倒すなどのプレイが必要となることがあります。

vs Rinya Sun (五分)

先発：＋
後発：＋or

先発：＋
後発：＋

ランクマッチや大会で何度も対戦し、準備したマッチアップです。五分五分のマッチアップで、どちらがうまくプレイできるかによります。

ガオガエン＋セキタンザンが有効なマッチアップで、リザードンに圧をかけつつザシアンやリザードンを弱体化でき、トリトドンが来ても圧をかけられます。ゴリランダーはじめん技に受け出したり、ねこだまし役として選出し、トリトドンやグラードンに対しても打点を持ちます。ザシアンは大きなダメージを稼ぐために必須です。

相手がグラードン＋オーロンゲの場合はセキタンザンをゴリランダーに引きながらすてゼリフをグラードンに打ちます。セキタンザン方向へのトリックをケアしつつ、グラードンを弱体化できます。最悪、ねこだましをチラつかせながらみがわりを残したり、ダメージを稼いだりすることもできます。相手がザシアン＋グラードンの場合は相手がセキタンザンがガオガエンのどちらに集中してくるかの50%の択で、その場合は自分を信じてプレイしましょう。

最後に、グラードン＋リザードンの場合はねこだましをグラードンに打ちながらフンセキをリザードンに打ちます。リザードンを倒すことができ、いのちのたまでなければガオガエンが生き残ります。ヨロギのみはあまりメジャーではないのでリザードンを倒せることが多く、ガオガエンを大切にして有利盤面を維持しましょう。相手のリザードンがヨロギの場合、グラードンにねこだましはせず、相手のグラードンにじゃくてんほけんを発動してもらうことでヨロギであってもリザードンを倒せます。

総じてこのマッチアップはプレイ勝負で、適切なダイマックスのタイミングを探しましょう。ダイマックスを有効に使えたほうが勝ちます（でんじはの痺れには注意しましょう）。ウーラオスはこのマッチアップではそこそこですが、相手がトリトドンを出してこないと確信できる場合に選出します。先発イベルタル＋ザシアンのパターンも同様ですが、うまい相手の壁＋後発リザードンに苦しむかもしれません。

vs ザシアンカイオーガ  (五分)

vs トルネオーガザシアン (+ツルギランド)

先発：＋
後発：＋

先発：＋
後発：＋

先発：＋
後発：＋

カイオーガザシアンの代表的なパターンです。主なプランはザシアン＋ゴリランダーから入り相手のカイオーガにグラススライダーの圧をかけ、ザシアンで相手のカイオーガを倒したり、うまく守ったり、みがわりを残したりできるようにします（ぼうふうではみがわりは壊れません）。そこからはみがわりを有効に活用し、終盤のダイマックスイベルタルにつなげられるようにし、相手に2回目以降のおいかぜを許さないようにします。相手がザシアン＋トルネロスの場合はねこだましをザシアンに打ちながらみがわりをし、そこからはザシアンでダメージを稼いでグラススライダーやアクアジェットの圏内に押し込みます。ザシアンが倒されたらイベルタルを繰り出し、ダイマックスを使えば勝つことができるでしょう。

先述しましたが、セキタンザンプランは相手がカイオーガを出してこないと確信できる場合のみで、1本目をゴリランダー選出で勝った場合に行います。リスキーではありますが読みが当たれば非常に強力です。ザシアン＋イベルタルは、相手がゴリランダーに対するカウンターとしてガオガエン＋ザシアン/ランドロスなどのトルネロス以外を出してきた場合に有効です。ランドロスは1ターン目にダイジェット＋きょじゅうざんで集中すれば倒せるので有利な択になります。

vs エルフーンリザードン入り 

自分の考えでは厳しいマッチアップです。エルフーンは攻撃的なプレッシャーはさほどないですが、より厄介です。多くのエルフーンはあまえるを覚えており、こちらのゲームプランが通りません。このマッチアップにおいては、プランは概ね同じですが、相手にプレイで勝つ必要があります。主にみがわりを残し、相手のザシアンを早急に処理し、イベルタルでエルフーンに圧をかけます。しかしながら、あまえるを受けてもきょじゅうざんでエルフーンを倒せる可能性があったり、他の攻撃と合わせたりすることで勝てるので、慎重にプレイする必要があります。

このマッチアップではリザードンに気をつけることも大切です。リザードンはザシアンとゴリランダーに強く、こちらのセキタンザンはリザードンに強力ですがカイオーガには弱いため、厳しい択を強いられます。見せ合いで相手の選出を予想し、積極的なプレイが求められます。しかし、リザードンは比較的耐久が低いので、うまく守ったりみがわりを駆使したりすることで対処できることもあります。

vs オーロンゲ入り 

これまでの2パターンと同様の選出ですが、異なるプレイが必要です。このマッチアップではオーロンゲを積極的に狙い、壁やでんじはなどの複数回の行動を許さないようにします。ダイマックスカイオーガの攻撃をザシアンが耐えることがあるのは良い点です。ザシアンが倒れた後はウーラオスのすいりゅうれんだで相手を攻撃していき、イベルタルのダイジェットと組み合わせると相手のザシアンを上から倒せます。

このマッチアップで問題となるのはサンダー/ボルトロスで、終盤にうまくダイマックスを通されると問題になり得ます。ダイジェット＋ザシアンに対してはダイウォールで集中を防いで次のターンに攻撃するといった立ち回りも求められますが、ダイマックスを終盤に温存されると厄介です。なるべく積極的に攻撃し、終盤に1vs3や1vs4の盤面を作るようにしたいです。相手のザシアンやカイオーガがダイジェット/ダイナックルの恩恵を受けると負けにつながります。セキタンザンを出す選択肢もありますが、相手の選出が読める場合のみです。

全体的にプレイ勝負で、後発ダイマックスプランに気をつけてプレイすれば勝てるはずです。

その他

ヌケニン入り: イベルタルをできるだけ大切にしたり、可能であればTODでの勝ちを狙います。

vs 黒バドザシアンボルトトドン  (有利)

先発：＋
後発：＋

先発：＋
後発：＋

ガオガエンは相手のザシアンを弱体化させ、フレアドライブでじょうききかんを発動させるために使います。ザシアン＋ボルトロスに対してはねこだまし＋キョダイフンセキから入ります。黒バドレックス＋ボルトロスに対してはイベルタル＋ザシアンから入る方が有効で、相手のザシアン＋ボルトロスにさえ気をつければ有利なマッチアップです。もしガオガエンセキタンザンで黒バドレックス＋ボルトロスと対面してしまった場合は、+1いのちのたまダイジェットとアストラルビットでガオガエンが倒される可能性があります。相手がバークアウトを選択していればフンセキ＋じごくづきで黒バドレックスを倒せますが、仮にガオガエンが倒されてしまっても、フンセキの定数ダメージは非常に強力で、終盤うまくプレイすればまだ勝てる可能性があります。しかし、黒バドレックスにねこだましが通らないのでガオガエン選出はおすすめしません。

全体的に、どちらの選出も選出択で、うまく当てることができれば有利になります。しかしながらマッチアップとしては有利で、セキタンザンが刺さっていることが多いため、選出段階での圧力を活かしながらフンセキを通したりまもるを通したりうまくプレイしていきましょう。相手目線ではセキタンザンに気をつけなければならないため、後発のトリトドンに合わせてゴリランダーを出したり、相手のミスを咎めたりしていきます。

負け筋はボルトロス絡みの選出に押し負けることなので、相手のザシアンにはねこだまし、相手のバドレックスにはイベルタルを選出したいです。イベルタル＋ザシアンの先発であればザシアン＋ボルトロスの先発に対してもダイウォール択などを通すことによって勝負になります。ウーラオス＋セキタンザン先発も悪くないですが、相手にトリトドンがいた場合に不利になります。相手にトリトドンがいなければイージーで、ゴリランダーに不利と感じた相手は出してこないこともあり得ます。

黒バドザシアンカメックス  (有利):

先発：＋
後発：＋

先発：＋
後発：＋

イベルタル＋ザシアン先発での相手のザシアン＋カメックスに対する動きはイベルタルをウーラオスに引いててだすけ＋きょじゅうざんを耐え（どちらに飛んでくるかの択）、こちらのザシアンで相手のザシアンを狙います。相手のザシアンを倒した後にイベルタルでダイマックスをすることができれば有利です。

セキタンザン先発の場合はセキタンザンが守りながらザシアンにすいりゅうれんだを選択し、相手のザシアンをねっぷう圏内orフンセキ＋アクアジェット圏内に押し込みます。相手はセキタンザンにホウゲキを打ってくることが多いので、セキタンザンが守ることでS+6,A+2,C+2を得られます。次のターンにフンセキを打ちバドレックスの襷を壊し、ゴリランダーやきょじゅうざんで倒せるようにします。

全体的に有利なマッチアップで、みず技をゴリランダーで受けてねこだましで展開しつつ後発セキタンザンダイマックスなど他のプランでも戦えます。

vs 黒バドザシアンエルフエレキ  (有利)

先発：＋
後発：＋

エルフーン＋ザシアンorバドレックスの先発に対してはエルフーンにフンセキを打ちながら、バドレックスにすいりゅうれんだを打ちます。相手を倒しつつ、ダイマックスレジエレキのエレキフィールドをゴリランダーで書き換えたりしていきます。初手で相手を2体倒すことができればそこから十分に勝つことができるでしょう。

だっしゅつボタンには注意が必要です。

相手にレジエレキではなくボルトロスがいる場合 :

先発：＋
後発：＋

この場合はイベルタルが有効です。レジエレキに比べるとイベルタルへの圧が下がっています。レアケースですが、相手のザシアンを考慮するとこの場合はザシアンよりもガオガエンが有効です。このパターンはレジエレキがいる場合に比べるとゲームスピードが遅い場合が多いです。

全体的に有利なマッチアップで、ダイマックスをいつ使ってくるかに注意してプレイしましょう。

vs 白バドレックスパルキア  (有利)

先発：＋
後発：＋

相手にレジエレキがいる場合:

先発：＋
後発：＋

イベルタルのぼうじんゴーグル＋ちょうはつが刺さります。相手のモロバレルのいかりのこなを無視しながらトリックルームを止めたり、ガオガエンのすてゼリフを止めたりでき、有利に試合を進められます。相手のガオガエンがねこだましをしてくるかどうかは択にはなりますが、相手にトリックルームされても交代などでトリックルームターンを凌ぐことができれば勝てます。

相手にレジエレキがいる場合はゴリランダーが有効です。ウーラオスもきあいのタスキを盾に行動でき、ゴリランダーのとんぼがえりを絡めつつダイウォールやまもるをうまく通していきましょう。相手のレジエレキのダイマックス終了後にグラスフィールドにできれば、イベルタルが動きやすくなります。

全体的に有利なマッチアップですが、適切なプレイが求められます。

不利マッチ

トリトドンレジエレキ黒バドザシアン

このような相手にトリトドンが入っていることは少ないのですが、もし入っていた場合には厳しいマッチアップとなります。

相手のレジエレキに対する回答はゴリランダーかセキタンザンでダイマックスをすることですが、トリトドンがいるとセキタンザンでダイマックスするプランが通しづらくなる上、ゴリランダーは相手のザシアンとガオガエンに弱く、黒バドレックスのおにびも厳しいです。いのちのたまレジエレキの通りがよく、取り巻き次第ではカウンターを用意することが難しくなります。幸いこの組み合わせはメジャーではなく、トリトドン入りの黒バドザシアンはレジエレキではなくボルトロスやランドロスを採用していることが多いです。

最後のワンポイント

• 常に前のめりに攻めることがないように、時にはゲームをゆっくり展開していきましょう。すてゼリフやみがわり、ねこだましを絡めて展開することが有利となる場合があります。このパーティはサイクルをし、有利な盤面でウーラオス＋セキタンザンやザシアン＋イベルタルの並びを作ることができます。常に柔軟にプレイをし、有利状況を作るようにしましょう。
• 相手にカイオーガがいる場合など、不利なマッチアップでも怯まないようにしましょう。このパーティはどんなパーティに対しても適切にプレイすることで勝てる可能性があります。自分のプレイとゲームプランを信用し、自信を持ってプレイしていくことがとても大切です。私の過去の経験から、このパーティで最適なプレイをすることができれば勝つことができます。私が負けるのはたいてい、100%の自信を持てずにプレイした場合でした。
• 最後に、どのターンで状況が悪化したかを覚えておくことを意識しましょう。このようなパーティでは、成功したことと同じぐらいミスをしたことからもどこでゲームが加速した/減速したかがわかるので価値があることが多いです。それゆえ、自分のミスを思い出してミスを最小限にする努力をすることがとても大切です。一手のミスでゲームが大きく傾くことがあるためです。

このパーティに変更を加えたいか？最大限に調整できたと感じているので、正直に回答すると答えはNoです。このパーティには変更すべきところが本当に一切ないです。

おわりに

最後に、謝辞です。Matteo Ghisini (@Ghiso_)、Francesco Deiana (@the10phoenix)、Dresiop (Twitterなし haha)、Marco Silva (@marc0fier0)、Mattia Angelini (@MattyPlaysVGC)、Neil Patel (@Neil_VGC)、Federico Camporesi (@FedeCampoVGC)、Mike D’Angelo (@Mike_DAngeIo)らはシリーズ11/12を通して私にアドバイスをくれました。Shinichi Matsuda (@kakunaka_vgc)、@TyphoeusVGC 、@1Finabas、そしてSam Pandelis (@mihoskies)、彼らは私を何度も助けてくれ、彼らがいなければこの結果はなかったでしょう。

全体を通して、Fierogramp（Marcoのプライベートグループ）は素晴らしく、最高の時間とサポートをありがとう！

最後に、Articuno Blues(チーム)も忘れられません。彼らも最高で常に私を支えてくれました。Aldrich Yan (@AldrichYan), Isabel Lee (@izzy22x1), Helios of Sun (@heliosvgc), Sebastian Li (@apronvgc) 他、全てのDiscordメンバーに感謝します。

The Forge Gamersのこともどうすれば忘れられるでしょうか。とても楽しく、VGCをプレイする上でポジティブな雰囲気でした。いつも楽しくプレイしながら助けてくれてありがとう。

その他: @BankZenoVGC, @nontaro_vgc (大会前に練習に付き合ってくれた), @YoungMoraNBA @BaarsKaasVGC らも相談に乗ってくれたり、親友の@samnggg_tsngはいつも近くで支えてくれました。

おわりに、ザシアン、カイオーガ、グラードンなどがほとんどの全ての相手にいるこのシリーズ12環境を通して、お気に入りのアーキタイプを調整し続ける旅はとてもとても楽しかったです。皆さんはセキタンザンは本当に強いのかと疑問に思っていたと思いますが（今も思っているかもしれません）、私はこのパーティを進化させられたことを誇りに思っています。今後来年の世界大会に向けてさらに練習していきます。横浜でお会いしましょう！諦めず、結果と正しい取り組みを追い求めていきます。

セキタンザンは使っていて非常に楽しく、間違いなく8世代でお気に入りのパーティです。特に、グラードンとカイオーガがいてセキタンザンにとって逆風であったこのフォーマットでのプレイには満足しています。自分や他のプレイヤーがこのパーティで良い結果を出しているのが嬉しく、他のプレイヤーにも共有しながら改良を加えて、環境に合わせて調整を施すことができてよかったです。

最後まで楽しく読んでいただけたなら嬉しく思います。ありがとうシリーズ12！

レンタルチームID: 0000 0001 35GB 43

COAL DRIP <3

パーティ作成者

マギカウラ (Jude Lee)

キョダイフンセキ最強

English Version

Rental Team ID: 0000 0001 35GB 43

Introduction

Hi everyone, this is Jude Lee (@maGicaUraVGC) from Singapore, also known as CoalossalVGC or マギカウラ in the Japanese Community.

In this report, I will be talking about the evolution of the Coalossal archetype that I have used for the whole of Series 12.

Teambuilding Process

When GS Cup rules were announced, I was unsure of what to use. I was using a weird team of Kyurem White+Gothitelle at first, but it felt pretty linear in terms of gameplans and wasn’t good into a lot of the Zacian teams, which were of course extremely popular. Even though I had been using Coalossal for Series 11 and Series 7/9, I was skeptical about it’s effectiveness in this format, as I had expected the Kyogre Zacian archetype to be extremely popular, causing a lot of problems for that team.

However, my good friend Marco Silva (@marc0fier0) sent me a paste of the standard Coalossal team in Series 12. It caught my interest, as Coalossal is one of my comfort picks and it functions similarly to my Series 11 team that I had so much success with in the S11 metagame. It was essentially identical, with both teams having Urshifu, Coalossal, Zacian, Rillaboom and Incineroar, but with the change of Galarian Moltres to Yveltal, who are both dark flying types that fill the role of airstream providers. I immediately started practicing this team as there was a Victory Road Tournament that weekend. I hit top 10 on the ladder and I immediately knew it was for me. I ended up top 16 in that tournament, showing that Coalossal is still a strong archetype, at least for me, and that encouraged me to build on it and optimize it.

Version 1.1: https://pokepast.es/fd5e6e7b0c880ce6

This was the first version of the S12 Coalossal that I had built. It had most of the same spreads from the S11 variant, except some changes. I tested this archetype of Coalossal with other restrictions instead of Yveltal as well, mainly being Calyrex Shadow. However, I felt it didn’t glue/gel well with the team, as it felt very linear in terms of how it played; you were always dynamaxing Coalossal which was really unhealthy for the flexibility of the team and it meant that Kyogre teams had an incredibly easy way to win vs you. Another point worth noting, is that Calyrex and Urshifu both need the focus sash, otherwise they die way too quickly to a lot of strong attacks that are expected in a GS Cup metagame. Yveltal just felt more flexible as a Pokemon, and I was more accustomed to using dark/flying types on my team, because 1. Max airstream with Zacian and Urshifu is really busted, and 2. Dark is a great counter to CalyShadow on opponent’s teams. I was also more comfortable with them, having used G Moltres in S11 for the whole 3 months. (It’s also super valuable to be immune to trick shenanigans e.g. eject button, lagging tail, iron ball, full incense, etc. , and immunity to expanding force is cool too)

However, this team I realised has some flaws:

• The Incineroar was still being outspeeded by some Incineroars which was frustrating as they were either having faster Fake Out, or faster Parting Shot/Throat Chop/Taunt
• Zacian with no bulk was not cutting it in this metagame, as it gets oneshot too easily and needs more bulk (And max speed Jolly wasn’t that useful anyways)

Hence, I changed the team’s spreads after the February VR challenge, where I got top 8.

Version 1.2: https://pokepast.es/d0e55e064396d159

With this set, I had a more bulky Zacian that was still fast (outspeed Chongjun (@ChongjunVGC)’s Salt Lake City Regionals winning team’s Zacian). Shoutout to Sebastian Li (@ApronVGC) for giving me the base of this spread in which Marco worked on. We also changed Incineroar’s Taunt to Burning Jealousy, as I found in testing the different options that Thundurus-Incarnate and Landorus-Therian could be problematic, especially if we had led wrongly into them and activated defiant on Thundurus, and Burning Jealousy could save us there. It also limits their options once they are aware of it, forcing them to click suboptimal moves like Max Rockfall/Lightning, instead of Airstream/Quake/Knuckle. A single Burning Jealousy leading to double burn can really single handedly win the game for you.

Marco brought this to EUIC and got Top 64, 6-3 in Day 1. I placed top 40 in the March IC and top 5 after eliminating out Japanese players, peaking at 1924 rating. I also went 7-2 in VR’s road to Frankfurt tournament.

I felt that this version was really solid, but there was the archetype of Palkia Calyrex Ice Rider that was gaining a lot of popularity. I felt there were tools to deal with it, like Snarl Yveltal with Assault Vest and Foul Play, Substitute Zacian with Play Rough for Palkia, as well as consistent damage from Urshifu, but it felt really dicey and risky, as a lot of the games depended on sleep turns from Amoonguss’ Spore, and it was really volatile as a whole. Also, with Singaporean National Championships (with worlds invites) arriving soon, I wanted to fix this matchup.

Version 1.3: https://pokepast.es/1d286d2dac991d25

This is where the team really started to kick off and be really good in my opinion. One of the ideas that was uncommon but ingenious, was the Safety Goggles on Yveltal. It is very uncommon, but it makes sense in this case. With Goggles and Taunt, I would be able to Taunt Trick Room setters while bypassing Amoonguss’ Rage Powder, effectively stopping Trick Room. Even vs Palkia leads, I can force a 50 50/coin flip scenario, where the opponent has to predict whether I will dynamax or Snarl/Taunt and play accordingly, which is better than always having to let Trick Room be set up and lose a lot of momentum from that. It also helps in other scenarios, where opponents lead Incineroar and try to Parting Shot into a sweeper; Taunt stops all of that. It’s also good to stop Grimmsnarl from setting up screens or using Thunder Wave.

Another big change to this team is the Coalossal and Urshifu. I added a lot of bulk to Coalossal, as I felt that it was getting easily killed by things like Helping Hand Behemoth Blade from Zacian, as well as Precipice Blades from Groudon doing so much damage. While thinking about how to fix the situation, I remembered that my friend Francesco Deiana (@the10phoenix) and his friend Dresiop, had used Blastoise in EUIC with Bold nature. The concept was that with Bold nature, you have a lot more survivability to tank hits that are supereffective against you, such as Max Lightning from Thundurus-Incarnate, and Grassy Glide from Rillaboom. Likewise, the Bold nature on Coalossal allows it to always survive Helping Hand Behemoth Blade from Zacian, as well as 2 Precipice Blades from -1 Groudon without a boosting item and when it is spread damage. This made a lot of the matchups much easier, as the extra survivability meant that I didn’t need to rely on 50 50s or risky damage rolls to win.

For adamant Urshifu, I got the inspiration from Asuya (Emanuele Ciliberto / @AsuyaXVII)’s team report on VR. It used Adamant Urshifu for the Calyrex Shadow Rider team in S10, and after testing it, I felt it was really strong as it allowed me to hit important new benchmarks in damage that I wasn’t able to hit with jolly.

We also made the Rillaboom more bulky to survive Water Spout and Max Geyser better from dynamax Kyogre, and replaced Wood Hammer with U-turn, in order to have better positioning; Wood Hammer wasn’t really used that much and limited our options as rilla was sticking on the field for way too long without repositioning tools like U-turn.

Last change was making the Zacian really bulky. As I said, I feel that this meta is not only about doing damage, but also about being able to tank it as well. Thus, I made Zacian more bulky, as giving it more longevity meant that it was getting more attacks off which is super valuable. The calcs are insane for this Zacian: It lives Behemoth Blade+Substitute chip, as well as Max Geyser from some Assault Vest Kyogre. It’s speed is such that it still outspeeds Zapdos, Charizard, and those Thundurus-Incarnate that are more bulky and invested to just speed creep Zapdos and Charizard by 1 speed (169>168)

I ended up winning the VR tournament with this, and narrowly missing out on top cut in the VR World Cup Open at 6-3. Sam Pandelis (@mihoskies) also used an iteration of this with some changes like AV Yveltal instead of Goggles, to win the Melbourne Regional Championships. This team also placed 2nd in Swiss Rounds at 5-1 record, in the Singapore National Championships.

While testing however, I realised I needed to change a bit more about the team:

• I felt AV on Rillaboom was better, as not only do you get more coverage like high horsepower, you also get the extra special bulky that this team lacked, dealing with Kyogre was easier with AV Rilla as you can tank non Life Orb boosted Max Hailstorm (Tanks Calyrex Shadow better as well, and Miracle Seed’s boost wasn’t needed sometimes)
• Zacian needed to be a bit faster, to outspeed Thundurus-Incarnate at 252+ speed, sometimes Zacian Yveltal lead vs Zacian Thundurus can be tough as you never outspeed the Thundurus

IT’S TIME!

The Team (Final Version)

HERE FOR ALL DAMAGE CALCS: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dq2-aL8lsTSuLIK5-LgUlTUU6wYyK-LPKoUd1MiPPvI/edit

Coalossal

Ability	Steam Engine
Item	Weakness Policy
Nature	Bold
Stats(EVs)	208(180)-*-160(44)-111(84)-111(4)-75(196)
Moves	Protect/Meteor Beam Heat Wave/Solar Beam

The Centerpiece of the archetype. Coalossal, when activated is just an absolute beast and has to be respected by opponents in team preview. This is really advantageous for me, as it forces a lot of mind games from the get go. This is beneficial, as when my opponent tries to hard counter a specific lead of Coalossal, I can easily play around that and then counter the lead that would be specifically designed to counter Coalossal. Gmax Volcalith is an insanely powerful move throughout the Sword and Shield DYNAMAX formats, especially now (and S11), because of the simple fact that there are very little, if any, rock types in this format, which means that pretty much everything will take the residual damage of Volcalith, which is really good (128%/400% for every battle just for using a move once is just broken). In addition, other than Kyogre teams, Coalossal has a very good matchup vs a lot of other archetypes, like Calyrex-Shadow Thundurus Zacian teams, even the matchup vs Groudon is fine too because the sun benefits you.

Bulky Coalossal as mentioned above, enough special attack investment to oneshot 36hp 4 SpDef Zapdos and Thundurus when dynamaxed. Speed is enough to outspeed Zacian and Calyrex-Shadow after Coalossal takes a Scary Face after Steam Engine is activated. Solar Beam over Earth Power to deal with Gastrodon better, and can hit Groudon hard after dynamax.

Yveltal

Ability	Dark Aura
Item	Safety Goggles
Nature	Timid
Stats(EVs)	223(172)-*-129(108)-152(4)-122(28)-158(196)
Moves	Snarl/Oblivion Wing Taunt/Foul Play

Very underrated part of this team. Both Yveltal and Moltres in my teams from S11-S12 were pivotal, as they were able to function both in and out of dynamax. You have Snarl to lower opponent’s damage output, Taunt in this Yveltal set to stop pivoting with Parting Shot or prankster shenanigans, etc. . They provide a much needed check to the ever popular Calyrex Shadow teams, which have been extremely prevalent, as well as Lunala in Series 12. They gave me lots of flexibility in matches, as I can lead them in matches and players have a hard time guessing if I am going to dynamax turn 1, or just use it as more as a support to neuter the special attacking threats. Airstream support is also super good for my team, as Urshifu and Zacian with speed boosts have potential to run over teams.

Very defensive yet fast Yveltal. Outspeeds 252+ speed Landorus-Therian, 252+ Kyogre and Groudon, outspeeds all modest Lunala.

Zacian

Ability	Intrepid Sword
Item	Rusted Sword
Nature	Adamant
Stats(EVs)	199(252)-220(76)-139(28)-*-143(60)-180(92)
Moves	Behemoth Blade/Sacred Sword Substitute/Protect

Most broken restricted by far, broken signature move, broken stats and really good coverage moves. In my opinion, bulky Zacian is better for this team to live some of the really strong and powerful attacks of the strongest Pokemon in this format (e.g. Groudon, Regieleki, Calyrex Ice), optimising the stats well on Zacian, whose attack and speed are already insanely high. Substitute is really good and works extremely well with this team, with two Fake Out users that give it opportunities to set up Substitutes, blocking intimidates and status moves like Thunder Wave and Scary Face, Charm, Spore and Cotton Spore as well.

Bulky Zacian with enough speed to outspeed jolly 252 Thundurus, Zapdos and Charizard. 76+ attack for the bump in attack. Sacred Sword to hit Incineroar and Steel types harder; wider coverage as hits well vs most things that resist Behemoth.

Incineroar

Ability	Initimidate
Item	Shuca Berry
Nature	Impish
Stats(EVs)	202(252)-135-143(156)-*-110-93(100)
Moves	Flare Blitz/Parting Shot Fake Out/Throat Chop

Not much to say, this is just such a broken Pokemon. Best pivoting move in the game in parting shot, good typing, great ability, Fake Out support, just overall broken. Really useful for threats like Zacian and Groudon, Shuca Berry is needed to have another option to tank Groudon’s attacks and other Max Quakes. Throat Chop over Taunt/Burning Jealousy/Darkest lariat, as it’s the best move out of those options. It stops Parting Shot from opposing Incineroar which is what Taunt is used for, it’s a strong Dark move that can take advantage of Dark Aura when Yveltal is on the field with Incineroar too. Having a Dark move felt really useful to hit the ghosts like Lunala and CalyShadow as it can be hard to deal damage to them once Yveltal is gone.

Can be brought to any matchup, maybe except Kyogre matchups. Just overall a really consistent member of any team.

Rillaboom

Ability	Grassy Surge
Item	Assault Vest
Nature	Adamant
Stats(EVs)	201(204)-187(196)-116(44)-*-96(44)-108(20)
Moves	Grassy Glide/U-turn High Horsepower/Fake Out

Again, another really flexible Pokemon that’s valuable to any team. Saves my team against water types like Kyogre and Gastrodon, with Assault Vest you are able to tank more hits as well, and Grassy Glide in terrain with enough investment as seen in the spread still allows glide to hit them really hard. Without Rillaboom on the team, it would be almost impossible vs those strong water type dynamaxes. Having another Pokemon that can provide Fake Out pressure, as well as pivot, supports Pokemon like Urshifu and Zacian really well. Allowing Urshifu to pressure damage constantly and for Zacian to have more opportunities to set up its Substitutes. Grassy Glide is just a good move in general, able to do 45-55% to most unresisted threats, and is especially Useful in hitting Groudon and Kyogre – two of the most popular restricteds.

Standard AV Rillaboom. 20 speed EVs to speed creep 12 Spe that is meant to creep 4 Spe Rillaboom(s). 196+ Atk for bump number. Knock Off was considered but I have enough Dark moves and U-turn was more important for pivoting/repositioning and High Horsepower was better for coverage against Zacian/Incineroar/Regieleki (sometimes)/Dialga.

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike

The main trigger for Coalossal. Really powerful physical attacker; breaking through protects and ignoring intimidate is just busted. Adamant helps to push the damage output to an optimal level, picking up KOs you wouldn’t necessarily pick up if you are Jolly. Standard moveset and spread too. Brought in literally every matchup, its consistent damage output and guaranteed survivability for one turn with Focus Sash makes it too good to leave out of the lineup for pretty much any match. It can also be used as fodder to stall an extra turn of opponent’s dynamax, like dynamax Regieleki.

Standard Urshifu spread. 4HP to increase grassy terrain recovery, adamant for extra damage.

Matchups and Plans

Only important meta matchups will be explained here:

vs LunaDon (Positive)

Lead: +
Back: +

Lead: +
Back: +

Lead: +
Back: +or (if they have Gastrodon)

General plan is to utilise Yveltal to full effect when you bring it, with goggles it has a very positive matchup into Venusaur, with Taunt you shut down Incineroar and Porygon2. Either use it to neutralize early game pressure, or dynamax immediately and get speed boosts onto Zacian to sweep the game. Urshifu Coal lead is good too, but it’s specific to counter the Charizard leads that is obvious after you use the lead of Zacian Yveltal. (That lead is usually only if you are very confident opponent is leading Charizard, or else don’t go for it as it is risky)

You should be able to win this matchup, only way that you lose is if opponent is able to dynamax Charizard at an optimal time and sweep you once dynamax is over. Hence, it’s important to stagger dynamax sometimes in this matchup and try to have at least one turn of dynamax left when Charizard is on his first turn, or take out everything quickly before Charizard starts to take KOs.

vs Rinya Sun (Decent)

Lead: +
Back: +or

Lead: +
Back: +

This is the matchup I have prepared for and faced the most in ladder and tournaments. It’s a 50 50 matchup that relies a lot on who outplays harder.

Incineroar Coalossal is a good lead in this matchup, as you can pressure Charizard, weaken Zacian and Groudon with Incineroar, and threaten self proc even if he brings Gastrodon. Rillaboom offers a swap into ground moves, as well as a fake out user, in addition to pressuring Gastrodon and even Groudon pretty hard. Lastly, Zacian is just a big damage threat that is mandatory in almost every match.

If he leads Groudon Grimmsnarl, swap out Coalossal into Rillaboom and parting shot Groudon. This way, you can scout out for Trick on Grimmsnarl and weaken Groudon, in the worst case, you stall out a turn of screens and have fake out pressure for Zacian to come in and set up substitute/do chip damage. If he leads Zacian Groudon, it’s a 50 50 whether he doubles Coalossal or Incineroar. In that case, you have to trust your instincts and play accordingly, if you get it wrong you probably lose but if you get it right, the game is very easy for you.

Lastly, vs Charizard Groudon, fake out Groudon and Volcalith Charizard. Charizard dies to Volcalith and if not LO, it doesn’t kill Incineroar. Charizard most likely dies since Charti Berry is not common on it anymore, and then as long as you preserve Incineroar well enough, the game should be in a good state for you to win. If he is Charti, then don’t fake out Groudon and let him activate policy for you, allowing it to be killed even with Charti (because of +2 policy boost).

In summary, this matchup is all about positioning, and finding the right time to dynamax. Whoever gets more mileage and value out of their dynamax wins. (Careful of Thunder Wave hax too). Urshifu is decent here, but only bring it if you are confident he doesn’t bring Gastrodon. Yveltal Zacian mode is alright as well, but it may suffer vs a well played Charizard end game, in conjunction with dual screens Grimmsnarl.

vs Zacian Kyogre (Decent)

vs TornOrge Zacian (+Kartana Landorus)

Lead: +
Back: +

Lead: +
Back: +

Lead: +
Back: +

This is the first variant of Zacian Ogre that is covered. Usually the plan is to lead Zacian Rillaboom which pressures Kyogre with Grassy Glide, allowing Zacian to take advantage of Kyogre dying or protecting itself, and setting up a Substitute. (Hurricane doesn’t break the substitute) From there, preserve substitute as well as possible, then wait for Yveltal to clean up the game later and position yourself such that 2nd and 3rd Tailwinds are hard to set up. If he leads Zacian Tornadus, Fake Out Zacian and Substitute. Then, go from there by doing damage to Zacian to put it into Glide/Aqua Jet range. Once Zacian is gone, Yveltal is much more free and it’s easier to win. As said before, Coalossal gameplan is ONLY if you have high confidence he is not going to lead Kyogre, and that does come true if you beat the opponent with Rillaboom lead in the first game. Risky but pays off in spades if you predict correctly. Zacian Yveltal is a good lead if he doesn’t want to bring Tornadus and maybe tries to hard counter the Rillaboom lead by bringing something like Incineroar/Zacian + Landorus Therian. You have a faster airstream user, which threatens an OHKO to Landorus with a double up in the first turn, which forces mindgames as well.

vs Whimsicott variants with Charizard

It’s harder in my opinion. Yes, Whimsicott has less kill pressure onto your team, but it’s more disruptive. A lot of Whimsicott carry Charm, which can shutdown your gameplans hard. For this matchup, the plans are mostly the same, just that you will have to outplay the opponent even harder, given that charm can shutdown your plans so much. Generally, try to preserve Substitute and kill the Zacian as early as possible, so that Yveltal can come in and pressure Whimsicott. It’s annoying to deal with charm, but you still do around 35% to Zacian with Behemoth Blade after 1 charm, and the damage adds up, so it’s definitely possible to win that, just need to play more carefully.

In this Matchup, it’s also important to care for Charizard. It’s really good into Zacian and Rillaboom, and can make the mindgames very tough, because Coalossal counters Charizard but Kyogre makes it super hard for Coal to come. This is where you might have to predict the lead and be aggressive in team preview. However, Charizard is still relatively frail, and it can be overcome by smart plays, good Protects, as well as Substitutes that can be set up before it enters the field.

vs Zacian Kyogre Grimmsnarl

Same leads as the other two variants. However, you play slightly different. In this matchup, target Grimmsnarl aggressively to prevent mutliple screens from being set up, and Thunder Wave from affecting you too much. Dynamax Kyogre sometimes doesn’t kill Zacian with Geyser, which is good as well. Once Zacian dies, get in with Urshifu and spam surging strikes, which kills most Zacian with Airstream from Yveltal, which makes it faster than Zacian, due to the dynamic speed mechanic.

One problem in this matchup can be the Zapdos/Thundurus, which comes in as a late game dynamax and that can be bad for you. Sometimes it’s as a lead as well. Vs Flying+Zacian lead, you can max guard the double up and Behemoth Blade the flying type, giving you a kill the next turn (provided Zapdos doesn’t paralyze you with Static). However, if it’s in the back as a dynamax in late game once your’s is over, it can be problematic. To beat this, try to snowball as fast as possible and target around it, as if it’s 1v3 or 1v4 it has a low chance of winning; the way you lose is if Zacian or Kyogre benefits from the Airstream/Knuckle boosts. The Zapdos adaptations make the Coalossal lead decent, but ONLY if you catch it as a lead.

Overall, this matchup should be alright, as long as you play the turns carefully and think about the late game dynamaxes.

Other matchups with Zacian Ogre

With shedinja: Try to preserve yveltal as much as possible and try to use timer to advantage to win in that way if necessary.

vs Calyrex-Shadow Zacian Thundurus Gastrodon  (Positive)

Lead: +
Back: +

Lead: +
Back: +

Incineroar is used to shutdown Zacian and provide Flare Blitz proc onto Coalossal. Vs Zacian Thundurus, Fake Out Zacian and Volcalith Thundurus and go from there. Vs Calyrex Thundurus lead, Yveltal Zacian is better as Yveltal can tank anything from Calyrex shadow. It’s a good matchup, just don’t let the Thundurus and Zacian go out of hand and it should be fine. If you lead Incineroar+Coalossal into Calyrex+Thundurus it can be risky as astral+LO +1 Airstream probably kills Incineroar, but if they Snarl, you kill Calyrex with Throat chop+Volcalith residual damage (even then, Volcalith chip over time is really good damage, and with smart plays like protects in the right slots and predictions later on, it’s winnable). However, it’s advised to avoid this lead matchup as you can’t Fake Out calyrex. Overall, both leads each have good and slightly worse lead matchups, and it’s just up to you to predict which mode they will go first. All in all however, this matchup is good for you, as opponent’s team is in general quite weak to Coalossal, and even if he gets the lead matchup advantageously and in his favour, you can still have chances to come back with DOTs of Volcalith+smart protects/defensive plays and predictions. From the opponent’s perspective, he has to be super careful every turn about Coalossal and the later game of Gastrodon vs a potential Rillaboom, which places more pressure on him, as every mistake he makes is punished harder than for my side.

The way you lose is if Thundurus+legendary generates too much momentum, so you can stop it by doing fake out on Zacian or using Yveltal as a lead to shutdown Caly. Yveltal Zacian also works vs Zacian Thundurus, with either Max Guard to protect from the double up, or your ability to live Behemoth+Airstream sometimes. Urshifu coalossal is a decent lead, as you will force their hand to swap in Gastrodon, which can be played around relatively easily. It also autowins you the game if they don’t use Gastrodon, which is decently probable, given that Gastrodon isn’t worth it vs Rillaboom and no Urshifu.

If the variant is Blastoise instead of Gastrodon  (Positive):

Lead: +
Back: +

Lead: +
Back: +

VS the most common lead for that which is Zacian+Blastoise: Swap Yveltal to Urshifu to tank Helping Hand Behemoth (50 50), then Behemoth Zacian. After that he dies no matter what, which then frees Yveltal to sweep as without Zacian, Yveltal has a very good matchup.

With Coal Ursh lead, Protect coal and Surging Strikes Zacian, putting it into another Surging range/Heat Wave range/Volcalith+Aqua Jet range. He usually cannonades into coal which doesn’t kill with DOTs into protected Coalossal, giving you +6 +2 +2, allowing you to get the rocks up next turn which is really good as it breaks Caly’s Sash, chips Rillaboom to Behemoth range, etc. . Overall, good matchup, as you have a variety of ways to play it, all of which are decent and able to win you the game. Other plans work too, such as swapping to Rillaboom to tank the water attacks, and Fake Out pressure the next turn, stalling out the dyna and dynamaxing Coalossal later on.

vs Calyrex-Shadow Zacian Whimsicott Regieleki (LO hyper offensive)  (Positive)

Lead: +
Back: +

Vs Whimsicott+Caly/Zacian lead, Volcalith Whimsicott, Surging Caly. You get a double KO and then Rillaboom resets the Electric Terrain that dynamaxed Regieleki sets up. From the point you get a double KO, there should not be enough resources for opponent to come back. (Astral around 40% to dyna Coalo)

Care for Eject Button, can be game changing.

If they have Thundurus instead of Regieleki :

Lead: +
Back: +

Yveltal is good as a lead here, as the threats to Yveltal is much lower with Thundurus instead of Regieleki. Incineroar is more useful than Zacian here (rare case), as intimidates really help vs Zacian. This lead usually plays slightly slower, which is easier to do when opponent doesn’t have Regieleki, who can snowball a game really fast.

Overall good matchup, just play carefully, especially when they decide to dynamax their hard hitters.

vs Calyrex-Ice Palkia  (Positive)

Lead: +
Back: +

If they have Regieleki:

Lead: +
Back: +

Yveltal Goggles+Taunt is very clutch here. You prevent Trick Room since you bypass Amoonguss’ Rage Powder, can stop Incineroar from using Parting Shot to reposition, overall really good for the matchup. It can be slightly tricky if he uses Incineroar which pressures Fake Out, forcing a 50 50, but it’s better to force a 50 50 than always letting Trick Room get set up. If it does get set up, you can still win if you stall it out properly with smart switches and pivoting, and worst case scenario, if you get good sleep turns.

Vs the Regieleki variant, Rillaboom is a good lead, as it tanks the hits very well. Usually, use Urshifu to buy at least 1-2 turns with Focus Sash, and pivot around with U-turns from Rillaboom and Max Guard/Protects to stall out the turns, until you have Grassy Terrain back and Eleki’s dynamax is over, allowing Yveltal to take over the match. Overall positive matchup, at the very least it’s decent, as always, you have to play well to win as players with this team are usually skilled.

Bad Matchups

Gastrodon Regieleki CalyZacian

Usually teams like this don’t use Gastrodon, but it’s really hard if they include it in their team. The main way to deal with Regieleki is either dyna Rillaboom, or dyna Coalossal. However, it is very hard to proc Coalossal with Gastrodon in team preview, and Rillaboom is countered by Zacian and Incineroar, even Calyrex’s Will-o-Wisp stops it hard in its tracks. Regieleki with LO also hits the team really hard, with the checks/counters to it being very unreliable in this specific MU, due to the other things in his team. Thankfully this exact combination is not that popular; Gastrodon CalyZacian is usually only with Thundurus instead of Eleki or Landorus-Therian.

Tournament Run (Victory Road to Columbus)

Result: https://victoryroadvgc.com/2022/06/12/road-to-columbus-results/

R1 vs Riodir WW

When I saw LunaDon as my R1 in the team preview, I had a good feeling, because as I said previously in the plans, LunaDon is a matchup that I have practiced and feel very confident in. I followed the game plans well and I was comfortably able to win both games.

G1 he led Venusaur Lunala, I led Yveltal Incineroar. Snarl was able to let Incineroar live the meteor beam from Lunala and then I killed Lunala with Throat Chop, while Venusaur failed Sleep Powder onto Yveltal because of Goggles. After that, I was able to clean up with Coalossal later, as by that time Groudon and Venusaur were low enough from Yveltal’s chip of Oblivion Wing and Foul Play.

G2 he led Venusaur Groudon while I led Zacian Yveltal. He dynamaxed Venusaur and went for max flare and Stone Edge to Yveltal as I protected (as I felt he would Sleep my Zacian as he knows about Goggles on Yveltal already from G1) and went for Max Airstream. Next turn, Zacian was faster than Venusaur, as his Venusaur was probably a bulkier variant. Thus, I was able to kill Venusaur and then Yveltal cleaned up the game.

R2 vs Miguel  WW

Blastoise CalyShadow Zacian is something I had also prepared for quite well.

In game 1, he led Blasto Zacian as I led with Urshi Coalossal. In T1, he doubled my coal that protected, giving me free +6 +2 +2 and surging strikes damage to Zacian. I then went for Volcalith+Aqua Jet and killed Zacian turn 2. After that, the rocks+priority Glide from Rilla was able to clean his team easily, and I even had Zacian for if something went down.

In G2, he went for the same lead but i changed mine to Yveltal+Zacian, expecting a Rillaboom lead to counter Urshi Coal harder. I predicted the play of HH+Blade to Yveltal to kill the dynamax t1, so I swapped to Urshifu to tank it and then did a lot of damage with blade to his Zacian. I then double attacked to ensure Zacian went down or killed something in the back, however I lost Zacian to a Helping Hand Behemoth. It was fine, as I still have Yveltal that has no more checks left, allowing me to clean up the game. I made some misplays here and there in G2, but thankfully Yveltal had enough bulk to carry the game with Rillaboom.

R3 vs Qlash_Dracoo25 WLW

This was a skill matchup vs Swordfish.

In G1, he led Kyogre Grimmsnarl while I led Rillaboom Zacian. I followed the plan and traded Rillaboom (back then was Miracle Seed) for Substitute on Zacian+around 45% on Kyogre (AV bulky variant). I was then able to bring in Yveltal and get Airstreams+Behemoth Blades off onto his team and snowballed the game out of his control.

In G2, I led Coalossal, expecting his adaptation to be Zapdos. I called it correctly, he led Zapdos Grimmsnarl into Coalossal Urshifu. However, he had trick on Grimmsnarl which messed it up a little bit. Nonetheless, I was able to deal a lot of damage onto his team by the time Coalossal died, leaving him with a 40% non dynamaxed Kyogre+ a Grimmsnarl. I brought in Rilla+Zacian, clicked Behemoth and Glide into the Grimmsnarl and Kyogre respectively, leaving him with just Zacian left, with Reflect set up on his end. However, he crit my Zacian with behemoth blade, which killed it from 100%. I would have most likely won from there, but it happens sometimes in Pokemon.

Next game, I reverted back to Yveltal Zacian, as it is neutral into most lead combinations on his team. He led Grimmsnarl+Incineroar. I pivoted Zacian to Urshifu and then went for Taunt on Incineroar, stopping Parting Shot. Next turn, I protected Urshifu from a Trick Iron Ball which would make the game super hard for me, taunting Grimmsnarl again. After that, I was able to stack Airstreams and pile on damage with Urshifu, and then the game was really smooth for me after that. The crucial part is that I was able to maintain focused after the tilting loss of G2.

R4 vs Chris  WW

Another great matchup for me, Calyrex Shadow Groudon.

G1 he led Thundurus Grimmsnarl, I led Zacian Yveltal. I set up substitutes and got speed boosts, Max Guarding from the Max Lightning. Once Thundurus went down, I had +2 on both Pokemon and substitute still up on Zacian. I was able to snowball from there.

In G2, he led Venusaur Thundurus and I won because he didn’t know about the goggles.

R5 vs Zhe Zhang WW

I faced Zhe Zhang (didn’t know it then), Milwaukee Regional Champion.

It was a really good set, vs a neutral matchup of Yveltal Groudon. I was not sure where the Life Orb was on, so I led Inci Yveltal to cover for LO Venusaur, with Coalossal as an option if he was LO Eleki. He led Eleki Unci, but his Eleki was Sash, so I was able to survive and get Snarl off. I was able to reposition with parting shots and get Coalossal set up to sweep him. A crucial moment was when my Coalossal lived neutral Groudon Max Quake at 95% with 20HP, which sealed the win. (Probably wins anyways without the survival, but it made the win even more secure)

G2, I led Coalossal Urshifu with the Yveltal Zacian in the back. The plan was to Aqua Jet Heat Wave in sun to damage whatever is there in the lead, then dynamax Yveltal with Zacian to sweep in the late game, as I expected him to dynamax early to match the threat of Coalossal Dynamax. He led Venusaur Groudon, dynamaxed Groudon and I got a lot of damage off t1. After that, Yveltal Zacian swept later.

R6 vs Seba LWL

Blastoise again.

However, this time I was against a very well known player for Blastoise in Seba.

G1, I went with the plan in R2, but he was able to play around the plan well. He predicted my moves well and convincingly won.

G2, I went Yveltal mode and won by outpredicting him and the HH+Attack plan. I stacked airstreams and had more momentum with him, winning me the game.

G3, I thought he would play with Thundurus to match airstreams. However, he led the same, with Blastoise Zacian, against Coalossal Urshifu. Once again, I lost some important 50 50s and lost a close game.

R7 vs Pedro Henriq  WLW

It was a really dicey matchup, as always with Shedinja.

In G1, I went Rillaboom Zacian vs Tornadus Zacian. He surprisingly dynamaxed Tornadus and killed Rillaboom t1 which was bad for me, I only got a substitute up. I brought in Urshifu and sacked it, getting Aqua Jet off to break Tornadus’ Sash and killing it off with Behemoth Blade from Zacian. It came down to me getting a read right and Max Guarding the double up with Yveltal.

G2, I led Coalossal Urshifu, but unfortunately vs Tornadus Kyogre. I got lucky with a double Origin Pulse miss, but ultimately lost because I got surprised by dynamaxed 25% health ogre to live Aqua Jet. I ended up losing because Volcalith ran out before Shedinja hit the field. It was a smart play, as it delayed the time until Shedinja took the field, but I lost from the lead anyways.

In G3, I went back to the game 1 plan, and he didn’t dynamax Tornadus. I got substitute up, and there was 1 turn where he missed Hurricane and I won from there. If it hit, I could have won still, but it accelerated the pace to a point where I was ahead by too much of a margin, and dyna Yveltal won from there.

R8 vs Azulite  WLW

If I won this set, it was guaranteed top cut at 7-1. However, I was against a very good player in Alex, aka Azulite.

I led Yveltal Incineroar in G1, to scout out what his team was like and how he was going to play. I can’t exactly remember what he led, but there was a pivotal point where I taunted Incineroar and prevented the parting shot repositioning. I then got a parting shot of my own onto Groudon and brought in Coalossal, from there it was easy as he had low offensive pressure compared to mine.

In G2, I led with Coal Ursh vs Thund Groudon. He surprised me by dynamaxing Groudon and getting KO to my Coalossal, trading for Thundurus and Volcalith effect. I was behind, but I had a chance to win as Volcalith chip made an impact, together with Yveltal’s Goggles. However, I took an unfortunate 3 turn sleep with Urshifu in the endgame that made me lose the 1v1 vs Venusaur that was in range of Surging Strikes (if not, plus aqua jet the next turn).

In G3, I brought the same 4, but vs venison. I decided to just aqua jet and heat wave in sun, as he had sash on Venusaur. He dynamaxed, went for Vine lash and PBlades, killing both of my Pokemon. I was left with Yveltal (dyna) and Zacian. It was tough, but my opponent misplayed by not going for the parting shot on Zacian, instead going for a flare blitz that was blocked by substitute. My Yveltal then survived a Behemoth Blade+Vinelash residual damage (the last turn), while I killed Incineroar that turn. I then killed Zacian the next turn by hitting it with Behemoth+Foul Play. It was a really close set, I probably would lose if i didn’t get lucky in the end (I got a double crit+burn to Groudon with heat wave), but Pokemon is like that as a game, with hax being a legitimate factor of it, and it was a rather dicey matchup when the leads matchup like that with Coal Ursh vs VenuDon, so I was happy I was able to make it through.

R9 vs Machin WW (Activity Win)

I didn’t have to play this round, as my opponent had dropped the last round due to being in the top cut already at 7-1. However, I was confident in the matchup as CalyDow Groudon is a good matchup for me.

T32 vs Roman52  WLW

Very unique team from my opponent, but one that I felt I had a good matchup into.

G1, I led Inci Zacian into Dragapult Groudon. I predicted he wouldn’t Will-o-Wisp and instead surf to get weakness policy, and I Behemoth(ed) his Groudon, doing a solid (approximately) 65-70% to his Groudon. After that, it was smooth sailing from then on, as barring any ally switches (which I played carefully around), Coalossal sweeps the team.

G2, I led Yveltal Zacian, expecting him to stay with the same lead as that lead is still quite strong vs my team. He instead led Charizard Grimmsnarl, and I got surprised by a fake out by Grimmsnarl onto Zacian, followed up by a Life Orb boosted Gmax Wildfire onto Zacian, killing it. I lost a lot of momentum from that, and eventually lost because of that early disadvantage.

G3, I led the same and so did he. I was prepared for fake out, but this time he went for Airstream instead of Wildfire. The next turn, I thankfully predicted a speed control move (this time was scary face) into Zacian, and swapped it out into Incineroar to tank it, plus a wildfire. I then killed Charizard (at 45%, 40-45% from airstream+ 10% from 2 LO recoil chips) with a Max Darkness. (On hindsight, Airstream was better and safer, but it died to Darkness so i was still happy with it). I was at a good advantage at that point, and I just conserved Incineroar and played smartly, eventually winning in the end.

T16 vs PokeGuli  WW

I faced the ever present Rinya Sun in the T16. Really fun set that could’ve gone either way if some things played out differently.

A lot of leads were decent/good into my team with Rinya Sun, so I braced myself for pretty much anything. I followed the standard plan for both games. In G1, he led Groudon Incineroar against Incin Coal. I went for Fake Out+Volcalith into Incin, which was countered by a swap into Zacian for Incineroar, and max quake into Coalossal. (Self Flare Blitz probably was better there as I would have killed Incin if it stayed in, plus the speed boost) The next turn was a 50 50 on who Groudon targets; if he doubled Incineroar while coal max guarded, I lost. Therefore I decided to attack with both, as if Coal dies, Incin gets Flare Blitz onto Zacian and kills it, and if Incin dies from a double up, coal gets flare at +2 onto Zacian (even at +2 it dies from sun+policy boosts). He ended up doubling Incin, and Zacian died from Max Flare. I brought in Zacian as he brought in Incineroar. I went for swap into Rilla for Coal to tank a Max Quake, protecting Zacian from Flare Blitz/Max move. Next turn, I went fake out into Inci+Sacred into Inci; his Groudon swapped to Charizard and then I killed Inci with the double+Volcalith chip. After that, it was Groudon+Charizard left. I protected Rilla (was not AV back then) and sacked Coalossal. I then had +1 Zacian and Rilla vs Groudon (in boosted glide range after the chips of Volcalith) and Charizard not maxed. He used blast burn the last turn, so I assumed he didn’t have Heat Wave. I went for Substitute+Glide onto Groudon, Groudon died and Charizard went for blast burn onto Rillaboom.

In G2, I went for the same 4, but with Urshifu in place of Rilla. This is because, after seeing what I brought in G1 (no Urshifu and Rillaboom instead of it), he wouldn’t feel any need to use Gastrodon. He led with Groudon, but with Charizard instead. I went for flare blitz onto coal and Volcalith to Charizard, which covered for Charizard being Charti, as the Precipice would activate Policy, allowing my Coalossal to kill Charizard, even if it had the Charti. He ended up not being Charti and was LO, and my Incineroar died, Coalossal lost around 60% from single target Blades.I won from there as two Behemoth Blades were able to kill Charizard, who needed a recharge turn. I was still confident as Urshifu could save me. In the end, it came down to a point where I predicted a swap out from Zacian into Incineroar, and then responded with an Aqua Jet into Max Flare to pick up a chipped Groudon from 2 turns of Volcalith damage. From there, I won as Heat Wave did too much, in conjunction with Urshifu’s pressure. (Also had full health Zacian in the back)

T8 vs JagSamurott  WLW

Really unorthodox team, replaced Incineroar and Zacian on the SwordFish Screens team with Necrozma dusk mane and Umbreon, making the matchup much easier as Zacian was not around to wreck havoc, and Incineroar was not there to neutralize my zacian and Rillaboom’s output.

G1, I won comfortably because he decided to dynamax Kyogre and not Zapdos, which made it easier to get rid of Zapdos which was the big threat to my team. I won easily by preserving Rillaboom in a healthy state for the endgame and then using it to deal with Kyogre.

G2, same gameplan, Zacian Yveltal lead with Rilla and Ursh in the back. I was in a good position to win the game and seal the set, with him dynamaxing ogre. However, I played too passive in one of my dynamax turns, allowing him to preserve health on his pokemon, which came back to haunt me as I didn’t have enough damage to break through his team with reflect support (I forgot about reflect).

G3, I led the same, but he went for Zapdos+Kyogre instead. In this position, I realized that if I get rid of Zapdos, there’s little to stop Rillaboom from pressuring Kyogre. Thus, I decided not to try to predict the Airstream into Yveltal and Max guard (it loses me the game if I get that call wrong), and instead doubled into Zapdos dynamax with Physical Darkness+Behemoth. Zapdos died, then the game was smooth from there; I just needed to play smartly and kill everything around Kyogre, for Rillaboom to clear the endgame vs it (with some support from Urshifu).

T4 vs Rey WW

It was vs a good friend, Antonio Raimondo, aka Rey. He used Venusaur Groudon with Zacian and Porygon2.

In G1, to scout out for his team, I led Inci Yveltal, once again under the impression that he wouldn’t lead Thundurus because of the Coalossal threat. It went similarly to G1 vs Alex in R8 of swiss; taunt prevented Incineroar from repositioning with parting shot, I brought in Coalossal after using my own Pshot, and then I racked up the damage too fast for him to recover.

In G2, I went Urshi Coal to counter Thundurus as a lead, but he led P2 and Venusaur. I got put to sleep in the first turn of dynamax, and he got up trick room. I won this game because of a combination of luck (he missed sleep powder on Incineroar and I got the wake up on the last turn of dynamax to get the Volcalith off, doing good damage to Venusaur (in Heat Wave range), and killing Porygon2 with the residual effect. (After Close Combat damage+Fake Out chip) After P2 went down, I went for heat wave and picked up Venusaur, as I parting shot the Groudon. After that, I predicted Zacian’s protect to block the FB on the last turn of TR, repositioning again with Pshot. That more or less won me the game, as his Pokemon had their stats neutered too much and had taken a good amount of damage already.

Finals vs JoanGarcia  WW

Vs another good friend, Joan Garcia.

In the team preview, I saw two big deterrants of Coalossal–Amoonguss and Weezing. Therefore, I decided that because he would probably try to lead with one of those two, Coalossal was a bad lead. I led Zacian+Incineroar, with Ursh Coal in the back, as it’s a decent/good lead into anything. I pressure behemoth blade onto yveltal, I weaken zacian with intimidate, I have substitute for amoonguss/weezing’s status moves as well. He led with both amoonguss and weezing, allowing a free sub for me. From there, it was a comfortable game for me, as zacian was exerting too much pressure, and by the time coalossal came in, he had already lost Yveltal and Amoonguss, as well as losing 75% of Zacian’s health, allowing Coalossal to clean up easily. (No more damage threats to it+too low health)

In G2, I predicted he would try to match fake out, to either get up substitute with zacian or damage me heavily. Therefore, I led Yveltal Zacian, as Yveltal has huge kill pressure onto Rillaboom. I called it, and went for substitute+airstream to rillaboom T1. He swapped to weezing and behemoth(ed) onto yveltal (I survived with 25-30%). I killed weezing the next turn, giving zacian another boost, now at +2 attack. He broke my substitute, but it was too late, as my Zacian had too much firepower and speed and would oneshot everything (literally); as long as I didn’t make any huge throws or misplays to lose zacian–my main answer to the Yveltal.

Tournament Conclusion

I was really happy about this win, as it was a really big tournament, making me really proud about the team that I had built, as well as my progress made throughout the series. As always, I would never be here without my Parents, family and friends, both online and offline in school and those that I have met online from playing Pokemon. It’s a great feeling to win something that you really put in a lot of effort into, especially playing at an unusual and late timezone.

Final tips for the team

• Be willing to play the games at a slower pace, don’t always force the game to go really fast and offensively (Sometimes it is better for this team to play more conservatively with things like parting shots and substitutes and fake out(s); remember that this team is about getting into right positions with the right combinations of Pokemon, e.g. Urshifu+Coalossal, Zacian+Yveltal, etc. , so always be flexible with how you play, as not always will you be in an optimal position where you have the right Pokemon on the field)
• Don’t be daunted by a hard matchup, like seeing Kyogre against your team. With this team, every matchup is winnable and it’s just up to you to execute the right plan effectively and efficiently. Also, trust yourself and the plans, confidence is really important when playing this team, as from my experience at least, I play the best with this team when I believe strongly in the moves I am making; I usually lose when I make a move I am not 100% confident in)
• Lastly, be conscious of the moves you are making and try to remember clearly what turns went wrong for you. With a team like this, mistakes are costly as a lot of the team’s success comes from knowing when to accelerate/decelerate the pace of the game. Thus, it’s important to remember your mistakes and work on them, to minimize the misplays/throws that can be costly in important matches/situations, which can turn a game around from a good to very bad position for you, just by even 1 mistake.

Would I change this team at all? To be honest, no, as I feel this team has pretty much been optimised to the maximum; there’s really nothing I would change about this team.

Conclusion

Finally, I would like to give final shoutouts. Matteo Ghisini (@Ghiso_), Francesco Deiana (@the10phoenix), Dresiop (RIP no twitter haha), Marco Silva (@marc0fier0), Mattia Angelini (@MattyPlaysVGC), Neil Patel (@Neil_VGC), Federico Camporesi (@FedeCampoVGC), Mike D’Angelo (@Mike_DAngeIo) who gave me advice on Coal in S11 and parts of S12, Shinichi Matsuda (@kakunaka_vgc), @TyphoeusVGC @1Finabas and lastly Sam Pandelis (@mihoskies). You guys helped a lot with the team and definitely couldn’t have gotten such good results without you guys.

To the entire Fierogram (Marco’s private telegram group): You guys are amazing, thanks for all the support and to many more good moments! GODO

Lastly, I can’t forget the Articuno Blues (AML team). You guys are GOATs, supporting me always whenever I did something bad and keeping my head up to be better as a person. Aldrich Yan (@AldrichYan), Isabel Lee (@izzy22x1), Helios of Sun (@heliosvgc), Sebastian Li (@apronvgc) and all the others in the discord!

How can we forget The Forge Gamers, you guys are really fun to be around and give around positive vibes when i’m playing vgc, really grateful for u guys helping me out both in vgc and in terms of providing a positive atmosphere.

Others: @BankZenoVGC and @nontaro_vgc (who helped me practice some matchups before tournaments), @YoungMoraNBA @BaarsKaasVGC for being great friends who I always can talk to, and @samnggg_tsng, one of my close friends who always supports me.

Ending off, It’s definitely been really, really fun to be on this journey of optimising my favorite archetype in sword and shield. Especially in this series 12 metagame, where it’s Kyogre and Groudon (+Zacian on every team) galore. Everybody doubted if Coalossal would be able to have success at the start (and still now), so I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished with this team and its evolution. I’ll push really hard for Worlds next year, hopefully I can go to Yokohama! Never give up and always work hard for results, trust the process.

I’ve come to the end of my team report. In summary, Coalossal has been an extremely fun team to play, without a shadow of a doubt my favorite team in Generation 8. Especially in this format, it has been very satisfying to play, given the difficulty of this meta for Coalossal with all the Groudon and Kyogre running around. I really enjoyed seeing this team succeed with me and other players as well who I have shared the team with, and it’s definitely really nice to see the changes and improvements to the team come to fruition, adapting well to the metagame.

I really hope you enjoy this report! RIP Series 12

Rental Team ID: 0000 0001 35GB 43

COAL DRIP <3

Author

マギカウラ (Jude Lee)

キョダイフンセキ最強