VGC Activation - An X-Ray of VGC

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Hey everyone, welcome to my first RMT! With Sun/Moon literally around the corner and VGC16 coming to an end, I figure now is the most appropriate time to post a team I've had a wonderful time using this VGC season. While I'm probably more known as that one Serebii Smod that plays Battle Spot, this is probably my favorite team I've made in ORAS. I actually really enjoyed this VGC format a lot despite all the hate it gets, justified or not, and it's probably the biggest reason I'm still looking to play VGC in future years, but if you've known me for more than a day you probably know this has a lot to do with the fact that I can use Mega Rayquaza.

I've not used any serious VGC team without Rayquaza before, and ever since the format started I experimented with various Rayquaza archetypes, going as far as trying Ho-Oh (which was unfortunately awful). Xerneas proved to be great choice though, to nobody's surprise, and I quickly became a huge fan of X-Ray as an archetype well before it saw any real success at major events. X-Ray is an archetype that I think gets wrongly overlooked sometimes and is a generally better archetype than some people think, but it is a delicate archetype that's difficult to build without resorting to awkward or bad picks. X-Ray is also probably the closest thing to Hyper Offense in this format but that's part of why I really like this team. Unlike other VGCers I don't have the luxury of travelling to VGC events outside of the Norcal region so this isn't really a team report, but as a player with no real presence before this year, I've definitely made something of an impact in the local area with X-Ray.


A quick overview of the different forms this team took.


As with any X-Ray team, the main goal of this team is facilitating a Xerneas or Rayquaza sweep (or both), doing anything possible to create setup opportunities and make sure these two can break through everything in their path. In my initial build I opted for Togekiss as a redirector since I figured the benefit of Delta Stream would be nice. I also ran a Life Orb mixed Rayquaza and faster Xerneas, back before the metagame shifted to bulkier Xerneas spreads. Weavile provided great Fake Out pressure and was very useful for threaten Salamence, Bronzong, and Cresselia, while Ferrothorn and Talonflame were meant to deal with Xerneas, provide Speed control, deal with Kyogre, all that good stuff. This variant was pretty bad because Rayquaza was my only way to deal with Groudon; even though Life Orb Draco Meteor cleanly OHKOed the fast variants this was not nearly enough.



I quickly realized both Togekiss and Ferrothorn are just bad Pokemon so I replaced them with Amoonguss, which filled both of their roles at once. This gave me room to fit another Primal Groudon check, which I eventually chose to be Landorus-T. This was around the time when Earth Power Landorus-T existed for a short time, I ran a full special set here since Expert Belt Earth Power had a great chance of OHKOing less bulky Groudon variants, while HP Ice and Grass Knot covered some ground against other major threats like Salamence and Primal Kyogre. Earth Power also OHKOed Mega Mawile but Mega Mawile is also bad and should not be used. This team eventually got me Top 4 at the Norcal Midseason Showdown, I lost to Huy who I'm told avoided using Yveltal because I spooked him with my team at a Premier Challenge not too long before that (Xerneas was kinda dead in the area at this time). A risky but good call since he beat me both in Swiss and Top Cut and eventually won the whole thing.



My previous build proved to be great for a good amount of the VGC season and carried me through a lot of the International Collegiate Pokemon Association on Nugget Bridge, but the meta shifts were brutal for it so I decided to change my team up completely. At this point I changed Rayquaza to a Swords Dance variant and opted for a way bulkier Xerneas appropriate for the current metagame. After Hitmontop's success at Worlds I decided to give it a shot because Intimidate and Wide Guard are very useful. This left me weaker to Bronzong so I needed something that could deal with that. Mega Gyarados is an odd pick in most cases but it made perfect sense on this team, being able to harass both Bronzong and Mega Gengar will providing even more Intimidate support before Mega Evolving. Thundurus was mainly chosen as a support Pokemon because I felt I desperately needed a Flying resist.



In practice this team was great, everything about it worked far more smoothly than my old team but then at a Premier Challenge I got haxed out of Top Cut and had to rely on Thundurus haxing its way to bring me back. While it almost worked, I realized that what I was trying to accomplish would've been better done by Smeargle. At this point I ditched Thundurus for Smeargle and from that fixed a lot of my problems immediately. The Flying resist was never useful enough so I didn't mind dropping Thundurus for it, and this alone gives me the dreaded Smeargle + Xerneas pressure that I probably should have had from the start. While Premier Challenges are anything but the perfect measure of success, this did bring me to Top 4 of a PC with 5 rounds of swiss and Top 8 Cut. Norcal PCs are actually usually pretty competitive so I'd say it's still an acceptable indicator of this team's strength.




Limitless (Rayquaza-Mega) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Air Lock -> Delta Stream
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- Protect
- Swords Dance

I've said it once already but I'm not about to make a VGC16 team without using Rayquaza, nothing else to it. Rayquaza is one of the top restricted Pokemon in the format and the best Primal check in the game, only really held back by the the two legend restriction and lack of spread moves. Swords Dance Mega Rayquaza just tears through teams puts huge pressure on the opposing team once it sets up. Dragon Ascent is pretty and breaks everything after Swords Dance, only Steels and the bulkiest mons can take a +2 Dragon Ascent. Extreme Speed gives me strong priority that can pick off weakened foes and becomes very threatening after a boost. Protect is always important but it's especially vital for Mega Rayquaza so that it can avoid having its Focus Sash broken by Fake Out. Now 105/100/100 bulk is pretty good with Rayquaza's set of resistances so it can take a hit or two (ignoring Ascent drops) but a Rayquaza that can't be taken out in one hit is incredibly dangerous.​



Victory Vow (Xerneas) @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 140 Def / 12 SpA / 36 SpD / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Dazzling Gleam
- Geomancy
- Protect

Everyone's favorite fairy deer. Don't think Xerneas itself needs much explanation, it's the most dangerous sweeper in the format and every team should either be running Xerneas or running very solid checks for it. The set is very standard, you should never be using Xerneas without the above moves, Moonblast and Dazzling Gleam cover everything you need and with proper support you don't even need to worry about Steels. The spread is a popular bulky Xerneas spread, it survives 2 Precipice Blades from Adamant Primal Groudon with spread reduction factored in and survives two full power Water Spouts from max Special Attack Primal Kyogre after Geomancy, though nobody runs that much Special Attack these days. Geomancy gives you the Special Attack and Speed you need so you don't miss out on too much by not investing heavily, though fast Eruption Groudon can be annoying.



Full Guard (Amoonguss) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Clear Smog
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Protect

Amoonguss is probably my favorite unrestricted Pokemon in the format, this thing is so good and fills so many important roles at once. Kyogre check, Xerneas check, Trick Room check, redirection, Spore, literally what more do I need? Clear Smog is awesome and is incredibly useful on X-Ray since completely ruining opposing Xerneas after they set up gives me a ton of leverage, especially if they have Safeguard support to prevent Spore. Redirection is necessary on any Xerneas team but especially on X-Ray, and Mental Herb is incredibly useful to bust through teams relying on Taunt to neuter my redirector. As with Xerneas, this spread is designed to tank Water moves from more offensive Kyogre variants that don't really exist anymore, but unfortunately Ice Beam does a ton regardless so you just kinda have to deal with that. Intimidate support can help with taking physical hits anyway.



Sentinel Guard (Hitmontop) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Atk / 76 Def / 44 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Wide Guard
- Feint
- Close Combat

Hitmontop is pretty cool, I ran with the popular Wolfe spread because it works. The Defense lets you deal with Kangaskhan after Intimidate so that you can KO back with Close Combat (followed by Feint if you get a low roll). Special Defense does a ton of stuff like surviving Origin Pulse in rain, Salamence Hyper Voice, etc. Fake Out support is super important to help set up and X-Ray really wants Wide Guard support since it tends to struggle more with crazy spread moves like Origin Pulse, Precipice Blades and the like since dodging them is unfortunately not a reliable solution. Feint is super useful on a team like this that wants to exert as much offensive pressure as possible, being able to break the opponent's protection is just too useful and otherwise provides useful chip damage that can and will come into play more often than you'd think. Wolfe's team runs Eject Button which I really wanted to use to provide momentum, but Lum Berry was ultimately better on this team because Smeargle is dumb.



Trick Step (Smeargle) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Own Tempo
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dark Void
- Fake Out
- Follow Me
- Transform

As dumb as Smeargle is though, it just makes this team so much better. Choice Scarf Smeargle is generally regarded as the inferior Smeargle because it relies a lot on surprise factor to steal a game away and falters in Best of 3, but I honestly don't rely on Smeargle much so that works to my advantage. Simply having Smeargle at team preview forces the opponent to lead in preparation for Smeargle + Xerneas, and since I avoid mindlessly leading it this often throws off awkward leads that beat Smeargle + Xerneas and nothing else. Own Tempo over Moody is standard on Scarf since the risk of losing Speed is not worth the possible Moody luck, and you can avoid being cheesed by Swagger with Own Tempo. Dark Void is Dark Void, free turns for setup is terrifying etc, simple. Scarf Fake Out is really cool when you're up against a lead that you can afford to Dark Void against, like Fake Out users. Follow Me is surprisingly useful when I need an emergency redirect and Smeargle is accomplishing nothing else, while Transform can fix the immediate power problem on X-Ray teams and punishes the opponent for Protecting against boosted Xerneas. Transform also prevents Smeargle from becoming useless against Safeguard which is excellent to give Smeargle more use in a Best of 3 once they know it's Scarfed.



Summer Rain (Gyarados-Mega) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate -> Mold Breaker
Level: 50
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 228 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Protect

Mega Gyarados is pretty much only ever used on X-Ray so it's a pretty niche pick, but it's an amazing pick on a team like this. This thing is pretty much only used to deal with Bronzong and Mega Gengar and has the added bonus of checking Primals to some extent, though beating Bronzong is the main thing. This also happened to work well against the surge in Yveltal usage and stomps Yveltal/Kyogre teams that started popping up after Worlds, but beyond that I don't usually bring Gyarados. In some cases I can bring both Rayquaza and Gyarados since Rayquaza is perfectly capable of breaking teams without Mega Evolving, though typically I'll only bring one or the other. The HP EVs don't do anything special, Gyarados only needs to outspeed up to max Speed Adamant/Modest Primals but the HP has definitely come into play one or two times.


And that's it! This team isn't perfect, but I'd say it's a satisfying culmination of my effort in VGC16. I've not once thought that my losses with this team were a result of the archetype, some matchups like Haze Crobat and Mawile are tricky to deal with (but both mons are bad don't use them), and certain Bronzong and Gengar sets can be a pain, but in general I think this team does its job well. I had a lot of fun playing VGC this year and despite what others may say, I think this was a generally good and enjoyable format. It's not perfect by any means but I can definitely say that this format is what got me really into VGC, and I'll miss it when the format changes for Sun and Moon.​


Not going to do a ton of shoutouts so if I don't give you a specific shoutout srry, I still like you probably:
- Hulavuta cant say DragonWhale NOVED Theorymon Joint Cena bobochan and all the other Battle Spot people, sorry this isn't a BSS RMT like I said I'd do but you guys are the primary reason I do stuff here and not just on Serebii, hope you can forgive me. :(
- kamikaze for getting me into VGC at all back in 2015, I probably wouldn't have bothered playing VGC if you didn't tell me I should try it.
- The rest of Team Berkeley but namely nvakna and TheFourthChaser for helping out with this team whenever I needed it. Also rssp1 for providing moral support !
- SamVGC is a quality side-pupper and also has VGC in his name so I like him. Stellar is rude but he likes Etrian Odyssey and Golden Sun so I can't hate him. Clone ur ded but Never Forgotten, and Collector Togami you have bad puns srry.
- All the RU ppl and other cool ppl, you guys know who you are but especially Feliburn tko xastify rozes Pearl Arifeen. And DTC is cool I guess.

Limitless (Rayquaza-Mega) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Delta Stream
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- Protect
- Swords Dance

Victory Vow (Xerneas) @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 140 Def / 12 SpA / 36 SpD / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Dazzling Gleam
- Geomancy
- Protect

Full Guard (Amoonguss) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Clear Smog
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Protect

Sentinel Guard (Hitmontop) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Atk / 76 Def / 44 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Wide Guard
- Feint
- Close Combat

Trick Step (Smeargle) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Own Tempo
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dark Void
- Fake Out
- Follow Me
- Transform

Summer Rain (Gyarados-Mega) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 228 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Protect
 

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