Battle Stadium Singles blog #3 — Sash Tyranitar sand with Gyarados mode (@soromon7777 S1)

             The occasional turn 2.

 For January's post, I thought I'd to a quick run-through of an aggressive team whose author used it to come 1^st in an early friendly tournament and which I ended up piloting to get triple digits during season 2.

   This team is notable in my mind as an early user of Focus Sash Tyranitar, with hyper offense follow ups in Excadrill and Gyarados. And because this is an early team, it is also unrefined in parts, which is particularly evident in the straight 252 / 252 EV spreads, something you are not going to be able to get away with at higher levels of play years down the line. Regardless, as long as the format disproportionately favors aggression, teams like this will be par for the course.

blogs: https://www.ponz-poke.com/entry/2019/12/18/181335

Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/74f36066d577666a

Rental: 0000 0005 DYFR 97

1) Team overview:

Please see links above for builds.

 Tyranitar

Dedicated lead Tyranitar is intended to cripple and chip something for Excadrill or Gyarados to pop off on. The set on this team is Modest, but Timid with Taunt over Thunder Wave is likely even more consistent, since it has a chance to screw over the lead mirror, as well as doing a number on something like Hippowdon which appears to be starting to see some play again.

   Running a special attacker set complements the Excadrill all in since Thunder Wave + Fire + Dark coverage can bruise some Excadrill checks and counters like Corviknight and Ferrothorn, while preventing Tyranitar from becoming set up bait after encountering Screens Dragapult and other Will-o-Wisp users (Rotom), for example. That being said, while Dark Pulse is Tyranitar's most powerful offensive move, it is also the one I clicked the least across all my games with this team.

   Going forward, something like +252 Spd Taunt / Foul Play / Rock Tomb / Stealth Rock is worth considering, though probably requiring a SpAtt based Max Airstream mode sweeper like Togekiss in the back alongside Excadrill to punch through physical bulk. But regarding Taunt leads in general, the metagame really needs an injection of more defensive powerhouses such as Porygon2, Celesteela, and the already DLC-confirmed Chansey for them to truly get the most bang for their buck.

Excadrill

Unlike the traditional sand Excadrill, which needs a turn to go to +2 Atk in order to properly snowball in a more defensive metagame, this team runs Excadrill with +252 Atk and Life Orb.

   This means that it can elect to either directly follow up Tyranitar for a sweep, in which case its ideal opener is Max Knuckle, or try to set up its own sand later on thanks to its Dynamax bulk after it comes in to take momentum. Either way, in match ups where Excadrill can not be expected to consistently break through due to Swords Dance's absence, Sylveon or Gyarados mode are generally preferred.

   Outside dynamax, Excadrill's damage is still good enough to compete in the environment it most thrives in: against hyper offense. This is useful, for example, when bringing something like Tyranitar / Excadrill / Gyarados against screens openers from the likes of Grimmsnarl, against which Tyranitar can elect to drop rocks, status and chip it a bit and go down spamming Thunder Wave to discourage a hard switch into something that might want to take advantage of screens but does not appreciate getting paralyzed, after which Excadrill can clear the screens and KO — the real play would of course be to read a screens opening from the opponent to such an extent that one would straight up lead the Excadrill.

Dragapult

Alongside Tyranitar, this is the only really novel set on the team thanks to a few notable offensive benchmarks. Reminiscent of Scarf Greninja's revenge kill potential, +252 SpAtt lets Dragapult Fire Blast 1HKO Darmanitan in the lead match up and Draco Meteor revenges even 252 HP Weakness Policy Dragapult in Dynamax form...so long as it does not have Max Airstream momentum, that is. The real Spd number of 282 this set hits is also enough to revenge +2 +252 Spd Cloyster and Adamant Sand Rush Excadrill in sand.

   Going for U-turn over Electric-coverage is only really felt in the Gyarados match up, where Stealth Rock damage would virtually guarantee the 1HKO with Thunderbolt (93.8% chance in Dynamax), letting Dragapult barely survive and revenge it even after Max Airstream momentum, with Scarf Thunderbolt only doing about 60%. Another option for the U-turn slot is Solar Beam, which can surprise Quagsire and Gastordon in particular.

Gyarados

Standard Moxie Gyarados with Lum Berry for status-based Dynamax checks (mostly just Yawn users) is this team's Max Airstream sweeper of choice. Just like the hyper offense of the halcyon days of battle spot in USUM, where Naganadel / Gyarados came in to attempt a sweep on the back of a suicide lead Landorus, Gyarados once more seeks to leverage a cripple / suicide lead to get its snowball rolling.

   Four attacks Gyarados has phenomenal coverage, and can even break the bulkiest of Corviknight unboosted if it switches in on an assumed Max Airstream opener only to get hit by Max Geyser instead.

Corviknight

Intended to check opposing Mimikyu and Excadrill/Gyarados momentum, this set has Taunt to prevent abuse and I suppose to make it somewhat interesting to actually bring along as opposed to just being a team select screen deterrent both players tend to have to keep the opponent honest (only for both to bring hyper offense mode anyway, naturally).

Sylveon

Sylveon exists to Calm Mind on teams prohibitively bulky for Excadrill, Dragapult or Gyarados to go through and wallbreak them: combinations of Umbreon, Corviknight, Hippowdon, Corsola and the like.

   Sylveon's hold item options to go for in this role are usually limited to Leftovers (typically paired with Calm Mind and Substitute to click against uninvested Scalds and dodge the Yawns and Toxics bulky teams might want to throw its way) or Choice Specs (for immediate wallbreaking impact).

   This team opts instead to forgo both to go for Babiri Berry, whose ascendancy on fairy types such as Mimikyu and Togekiss in generation 8 is mainly due to Max Steelspike and the omnipresence of Excadrill in general. This means that while Sylveon is sacrificing a great deal of survivability and burst damage in stall match ups, it can also act as a lure for Excadrill and Durant (albeit needing to Dynamax to live 252 Life Orb Dynamax Durant), with its +1 Dynamax moves still breaking through most defensive pokemon not named Snorlax (Assault Vest).

   Sylveon also has the distinction of occupying an especially crowded Speed tier, so a great deal of optimiziation can be done in that department: outspeeding the mirror match, Aegislash, Tyranitar, and Corviknight are all things that can be EV'd for with almost no cost to performance in its designated role, with the caveat that all the aforementioned will likely be doing some speed creeping of their own, of course. That being said, when not feeling adventurous outside its wallbreaking role, the unoptimized 252 / 252 EVs given above will suffice, because the current metagame will simply leave Sylveon benched most of the time anyway.

2) Usage notes:

Despite Gyarados stated by the team's original author as the main offensive mode and principle follow up to a Tyranitar or Dragapult lead, I found the most success by just brute forcing with Excadrill thanks to Max Knuckle. In the same vein, Sylveon's low usage speaks to the continued pervasiveness of hyper offense and other aggressive styles — which is, again, fine for this team since the Excadrill all in comes online faster than the notable Max Airstream sweepers following a cripple lead.

   Breaking into four digits took 20 games this time around primarily with simple execution of Excadrill and Gyarados all ins after getting into good offensive position off lead Tyranitar.

   Triple digits took some doing, however, and Gyarados, for example, overtook Excadrill more and more the higher I got. I have tried to reflect these patterns in the sections below, despite not keeping exact count of usage this time around either. In addition the queue times between ranks 2000-1000 far surpassed time spent ingame, with games taking up to 40 minutes to find during early evening Japanese time, and some sessions getting mildly upsetting due to hitting the same opponent three times in four games, with another encounter on the following day.

2.1 — Usual team compositions

Tyranitar-Excadrill-Dragapult

Dragapult-Gyarados-

2.2 — Most picked, by rate/member (descending)

1. Tyranitar

2. Excadrill

3. Dragapult

4. Gyarados

5. Sylveon

6. Corviknight

2.3 — VS Team Select Screen

Screens/Suicide lead Hyper Offense

Grimmsnarl or other Light Clay Dual Screens/Memento leads such as Steel Beam Duraludon or Curse Dragapult. Alternatively, dedicated cripple leads like Tailwind/Memento Whimsicott, Thunder Wave / Will-o-Wisp / Fling + Light Ball & Curse / Trick Room Mimikyu. Win conditions consist of Dragon Dancers, Cloyster, Max Airstream mode, Glalie/Octillery etc.

Tyranitar-Excadrill-Dragapult

Excadrill-Gyarados-Dragapult

Dragapult has Infiltrator which lets it go through screens, making it good depending on the opposing set up sweeper options. Tyranitar stops proactive Prankster plays like Memento from Whimsicott, and does not mind trading against Grimmsnarl or getting burned by screens Dragapult. Corviknight has some utility too, provided the opponent has an especially convoluted game plan like screens + Baton Passer + sweeper, in which case Sylveon can also sometimes just win by clicking Calm Mind on turn 1.

Trick Room Hyper Offense

Hatterene/Mimikyu, Whimsicott/Runegrigus (Memento), Rhyperior, Snorlax (Belly Drum), Ferrothorn, Gyarados and/or Togekiss mode etc.

Excadrill-Corviknight-Gyarados

Tyranitar-Corviknight-Excadrill/Gyarados

This is one of Corviknight's better match ups: physical Trick Room sweepers have problems going through it, and a combination of Iron Defense and Roost can potentially waste Trick Room turns. Trick Room + Curse Mimikyu can't easily pull off its gimmick unless carrying Mental Herb.

Balanced with Momentum Offense

Excadrill, Mimikyu, Togekiss, Corviknight, Dragapult, Gyarados, Rotom, Darmanitan, Snorlax

Tyranitar-Excadrill-Dragapult

Dragapult-Gyarados-

Against teams like this with multiple self-contained sweepers with snowball potential (Togekiss, Gyarados, Mimikyu), getting the lead right really helps since you won't want to surrender momentum as there is only so much Scarf Dragapult can do. Tyranitar can work as a back liner so long as the opposing Excadrill is not the Sash Rock Tomb Stealth Rock variant.

Dedicated Defense (stall-mode)

Corviknight, Toxapex, Quagsire/Pyukumuku/Seismitoad, Gastrodon, Umbreon, Snorlax, Rotom/Dracozolt, Corsola, Whirlpool Cursola, Gothitelle etc.

Sylveon-Gyarados-Dragapult

Tyranitar-Sylveon-Corviknight/Excadrill

Although stall is far worse than in past generations, ranked season 2's game timer changes make it so defensive play has a solid win condition based on timer stalling. In any case, Sylveon thrives against defensive fat, and should have a good time both in and out of Dynamax as long as it gets to click Calm Mind beforehand. This, too, is also one of Corviknight's better match ups thanks to Taunt + Stealth Rock attrition or as a Taunt set up for Sylveon, Dragapult, or Gyarados.

   SpDef-invested Unaware Quagsire deserves special mention here because cookie-cutter Toxic + Recover EV-spreads with Leftovers and Protect can avoid the 2HKO from Hyper Voice, meaning Sylveon is heavily incentivized to Dynamax Max Starfall to avoid poison attrition, especially since Gyarados, something that actually 1HKOs Quagsire, has problems breaking Corviknight.

Dedicated Baton Pass

Polteageist, Dubwool, dedicated leads like Memento Whimsicott, Togekiss, Clefable, Espeon

Sylveon-Tyranitar-

Sylveon forces things like Cotton Guard or Agility pass to come in on Hyper Voice, and with its Dynamax bulk should be able to finish off most Baton Pass recipients (of which there are but a few viable ones). Tyranitar's Sash means it can not be 1HKO'd by something sitting on Shell Smash, Cotton Guard, or Agility boosts, giving it a shot at Thunder Wave. Corviknight carries Taunt, but is too slow to lock out stat boosting moves and can't threaten things like Dubwool offensively at all, which means having to switch out to a sweeper immediately after clicking Taunt.

3) In Conclusion:

 For February's entry, I hope to report success in getting triple digit ranks using either Lagging Tail Grimmsnarl as set up for something truly glorious like discount Vivillon (Butterfree) or the mighty Octillery, or perhaps with a variant of SnowParty's Mimikyu-Dracovish Trick Room mode. Screens Dragapult plus Belly Drum Charizard is also something I would like to find the time to explore before it becomes obsolete. In any case, nouthuca.com's pickings for season 2's top finishing teams should be anything but slim should my original concoctions fall short of the mark.

- Tox

SW-0021-9848-8999