Tales from Battle Spot Singles blog #13 — Lure LeleZard (hanamiti19 S15)
For September's mid-season climb to 1700+, I adapted (read: made objectively worse) a Tapu Lele + Charizard team that reached 2000 points during season 15.
nouthuca:
blogs: https://hanamiti19.hatenablog.com/entry/2019/06/19/200950 (original core)
QR code:
Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/28d3a639c42aaab1
1) Team overview:
Please see links above for builds.
Charizard
This bulky Charizard spread hits a real Spd stat of 125, which aims to outspeed things like Adamant Breloom (122) and fastest possible Substitute + Leech Seed Celesteela (124). Defensively it can take a 252 Metagross Rock Tomb over 94% of the time and survive a hit from virtually anything special Greninja can dish out in the lead match up, and even live through a +252 Mimikyu's +2 Snuggle and Salamence's +252 Double-Edge from full as a backliner.
Tapu Lele
Tapu Lele's role is to do two things: first, to act as an out against bulky offense and stall; and, second, to lure in steels for Charizard to abuse (Celesteela, Aegislash) or nuke with Z-Focus Blast in the cases of Ferrothorn and especially Heatran.
A Tapu Lele lead tends to force players to respect a Choice Scarf, which means it can often get more mileage out of its kit even if the match up against the opponent's line-up seems unfavourable at first glance. Since it carries Taunt for defensive match ups, it can opt to lead against Stealth Rock from Hippowdon when a Charizard lead is not desireable.
The defensive bulk is to ensure living a neutral damage hit on the physical side from almost anything slower while clicking Calm Mind. Specific defensive benchmarks include living through +1 252 Gyarados Waterfall, +252 Salamence Frustration/Return as well as Double-Edge from variants that cut Att EVs even slightly, Blaziken +252 Flare Blitz (87.5% to live), 252 Kangaskhan Double-Edge (+252 ones 1HKO 42% of the time), and 252 Naganadel Sludge Wave (only 6.3% to 1HKO outside Stealth Rock), with +252 Mimikyu's Snuggle being a coin flip to kill from full HP. Also worth noting it that +252 Aegislash Shadow Ball also only gets the 1HKO 25% of the time, leaving aside the reality that Tapu Lele will always Calm Mind on it if the read is that it can't or won't Z-Shadow Ball or is not carrying some kind of physical set.
Aegislash
A more or less standard slow and defensive Weakness Policy Aegislash that the author uses to complement Salamence, also acting as splashable check especially to Metagross, Gyarados, Blaziken, and Salamence in every team composition. With the modifications I chose to make to his unquestionably superior build, Aegislash becomes even more pivotal with Thundurus and Sceptile bringing a pair of Ice-weaknesses.
Mimikyu
The author mentions Ghostium as the go-to choice for the team's physical nuke due to the high instance of defensive steel-types around. Otherwise, fully offensive Mimikyu carries the usual firepower to gain back momentum (Naganadel, Volcarona) once per game with its trading prowess. As for futher changes, Curse is a move worth considering in the Play Rough slot since Tapu Lele is a more consistent bring against normal-types anyway.
Thundurus
The team's original author uses physical Choice Scarf Greninja in the lead and revenge kill slots to pivot to offensive threats. I have instead opted for Thundurus to improve the Celesteela + Tapu Fini match ups, as the latter in particular still enjoys some of the highest usage numbers in three years of this format. As with Greninja, Choice Scarf Thundurus can likewise opt to lead where Volt Switch is safe. The Sludge Wave slot is up for grabs since it never actually got clicked across all my games. Indeed, something like U-Turn, Knock Off, or even Grass Knot would just as easily do as replacements.
Sceptile
The justification for this pick instead of the author's, again, vastly superior Salamence mainly stems from the desire to give Sceptile a go for the first time while the format is still alive, and since it actually has a (debatably) relevant niche on this team, it is what I ended up on for the secondary mega option. Doubling up on electric-immunity in the team select screens also somewhat makes Charizard better as a lead against opposing Tapu Koko openers, since Sceptile, if brought, will want to lead to get its ability online.
When bringing Sceptile, then, one or more of the following conditions usually have to be met on the opposing side: Being able to rely on superior Spd tier (usually against slower teams); Breloom on the opposing side; a likely non-Choice Scarf Greninja (Z-wallbreaker sets); ideally no Mimikyu; a telegraphed lead against which Work Up is free; hard-countering a meta lead like ~ 60 HP / 196 SpDef Yache Stealth Rock Garchomp (or forcing an Outrage from Sash/offensive variants, into which you potentially have two fairies with set-up moves in the back); and, lead Koko seeking to pre-empt lead Charizard. As one could imagine, Sceptile found itself relegated to more or less a mascot role.
For what it's worth, this Sceptile hits a Spd stat of 206, surpassing Lopunny (205) in addition to the 200 of Gengar and Tapu Koko, with the Def EV dump ensuring that it avoids the 2HKO from +252 Breloom (34% to 2HKO).
2) Usage notes:
Aegislash very much holds the keys to the kingdom here. It offers the defensive flexibility, enabling multiple uses of Overheat / Leaf Storm per game, lets you get away with stupid choices like Sceptile in general, and properly deployed should trade up almost without fail.
2.1 — Usual team compositions
Charizard-Aegislash-Tapu Lele/Mimikyu
Tapu Lele/Thundurus-Aegislash
2.2 — Most drafted, by rate/member (descending)
Admittedly, the usage stats from less than two dozen games are not much to go on, but a general trend should be discernible below.
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Aegislash
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Charizard
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Tapu Lele
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Mimikyu
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Thundurus
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Sceptile
2.3 — Drafting and leading cf. matchup-archetype list
See link for my basic archetype checklist:
https://tinyurl.com/archetypes101
More comprehensive list of cores and archetypes by marilli:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/battle-spot-singles-good-cores.3602082/#post-8156937
"Kabamanda"
Salamence/Hippowdon/Aegislash/Koko
Charizard-Mimikyu-Thundurus/Aegislash
Tapu Lele-Sceptile-Aegislash
Charizard will want to lead against most non-Koko things. Seeing that this is the case, the opponent may choose to jam Koko on turn 1, making Tapu Lele an interesting lead choice since it actually lives Z-Electrium outside terrain, and 1HKOs back under its own terrain. Ideally, though, the prospect of two electric-immunities from your side is something that can empower Charizard to lead regardless of the threat.
"Rizzagross"
Charizard X/Metagross/Greninja
Aegislash-Mimikyu-mega/Thundurus
Aegislash comfortably leads against both Greninja and Metagross. Opposing Charizard X makes Charizard Y from your side unappealing, but can still be led due to its matchu ps against the same Greninja and Metagross, together with your two fairies that can revenge Outrage from Charizard X. Thundurus is decent since it can finish off a bruised Charizard X at +1, provides a strong answer to Tapu Fini, and gives Aegislash cover against Landorus' Earthquake.
"Kabarizza"
Charizard Y/Hippowdon
Charizard-Mimikyu-Thundurus/Aegislash
Your Charizard Y should win the mirror against fully offensive variants, but can have problems against Flame Charge variants that typically carry just enough bulk not to get 2HKO'd by Flamethrower + Overheat, and can always get haxed by Air Slash.
Celesteela + Tapu Fini
Celesteela/Tapu Fini/Ground-type
Charizard-Aegislash/Mimikyu-Thundurus
Sceptile-Aegislash/Mimikyu-Thundurus
Stealth Rock coming down on turn 1 is something Charizard-based teams should expect, which can create an opening to blindly counter-lead the opponent's Garchomp, Hippowdon or Landorus.
"Landorus momentum"
Suicide lead Landorus+set-up sweepers (Naganadel, Dragon Dance megas, NagaScizor etc.)
Aegislash-Mimikyu-Thundurus/mega
Thundurus-Tapu Lele-Charizard/Aegislash
Sceptile-Aegislash-Mimikyu
Mimikyu and Aegislash both do great against Naganadel, and Aegislash is not the worst thing ever against the mega options in Gyarados and Scizor. As mentioned above, full HP Tapu Lele actually lives a hit from both +1 Gyarados and Naganadel, but since the only way to stop Landorus from deploying Stealth Rock is to lead Thundurus HP Ice against it and still outspeed it after it clicks Rock Tomb, Lele can not really be relied on outside that specific scenario.
Rain core modular
Pelipper/Swampert/steel type/Tapu Koko
Charizard-Tapu Lele/Mimikyu-Aegislash
Sceptile-Tapu Lele/Mimikyu-Aegislash/Charizard
Aegislash, Mimikyu and Charizard Y are all adequate checks for Swampert, which might push the opponent to bring their secondary mode instead. Partly because of this, this match up is one of the rare instances where bringing both megas might actually warrant consideration given that non-mega Sceptile also has a 50% to live a 252 Swampert Ice Punch, and can opt for the mega role against a Tapu Koko opener or a possible Salamence-based secondary mode.
"Mimigassa / suropoke"
Mimikyu/Breloom/Mawile/Porygon2
Charizard-Aegislash-Mimikyu
Aegislash-Mimikyu-Charizard
Sceptile does not want to face Mawile or Mimikyu, and loses its main selling point — its Spd tier — in Trick Room, rendering it defenseless even if it does come out on top in a theoretical heads up against Breloom. Instead, leading something that is faster than Breloom and does not mind trading into its Sash is preferable.
Dedicated Baton Pass / Glalie
Suicide/Screens lead + set-up, Blaziken + Celesteela, Paralysis support Mimikyu/Serperior/Cresselia + Glalie
Charizard/Sceptile/Thundurus-Tapu Lele/Mimikyu-Aegislash
As for Glalie, Aegislash's Sacred Sword is unaffected by stat boosts, including evasion, but still risks getting destroyed by Sheer Cold, Earthquake or even a sufficiently boosted Freeze Dry. Dedicated Baton Pass teams might not carry an electric-immunity for Thundurus, letting it pivot freely against screens Tapu Koko or click Sludge Wave against Aurora Veil Ninetales on turn 1. Overall, things like Memento into Eevium or dedicated Spd control (Glalie, to a lesser extent Vivillon) builds are among the scarier match ups.
Dedicated stall
Chansey/Toxapex/Sableye/Celesteela/Slowbro/Skarmory/Venusaur/Shedinja/Gliscor etc...
Tapu Lele-Charizard-Aegislash
Tapu Lele is a major win condition unless facing Sableye + Shedinja, in which case that role belongs to Mimikyu. Tapu Lele can either lead Taunt against a possible Stealth Rock, or come in on something completely passive like Toxapex to try to boost up for a sweep. At the time of writing, the more common variants of hard stall also carry offensive options in Gengar and Mimikyu, so Aegislash can be invaluable as a backstop.
Chansey is a massive problem when paired with Sableye + Shedinja or Celesteela since Tapu Lele gets walled and neither of the megas can break it, and Mimikyu would need at least +4 to have an impact.
3) In Conclusion:
While this entry was a little light on the meat, the next post will be about October's weekender Ultra Final Competition, with content hopefully approaching the depth of my write-up of Simple Symphony.
- Tox
