This is my first attempt at a VGC team, and it centres around picking the right speed control.
Goodra @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
Level: 50
EVs: 84 HP / 164 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Surf
- Flamethrower
In my opinion, Goodra is the greatest looking pokemon ever. I've wanted to make a competitive team for a while and it seemed like a no brainer as to who I wanted to build around. Assault vest to make use of its natural Sp.Def Bulk. Goodra tends to be the dynamaxed pokemon, especially when the opposing team has some form of weather control. Flamethrower and surf allow me to change the weather at will under Dynamax, but I've picked surf over muddy water as it allows me to alternatively set up gastrodon as my dynamaxed pokemon. Dragon pulse is a good STAB move, and max wyrmwind allows me to reduce the threat of physical attackers. Thunderbolt gives me good coverage against threats like togekiss, and also bulky water types like milotic and lapras.
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Tailwind
- Fake Tears
- Charm
Support set for Whimsicott. Focus sash as usual so that it can take multiple hits and prankster to give it priority when setting up fake tears to allow goodra to 1-shot a lot of the bulkier pokemon, and charm to counter physical attackers such as Snorlax, who can be pretty difficult for goodra to remove if and when whimisoctt faints, removing the fake tears option.Tailwind is a natural pick to give some speed control, and allows goodra to outspeed physical attackers like excadrill once sand has been removed. Moonblast wraps up the set to give whimsicott some to get some chip damage, something which I have found useful against bulky setters like dusclops.
Jellicent @ Kasib Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Surf
- Strength Sap
- Shadow Ball
I wanted to have two forms of speed control, and as I also wanted to bring gastrodon TR seemed like a good option. Jellicent's ability makes is a good fit with gastrodon, as the double surf combo both sets up gastrodon quickly while making it difficult to remove jellicent. 0 Speed IVs are so Jellicent is slower than gastrodon and moves before it under TR. Strength Sap acts as another form of recovery, and if paired with goodra acts as another way to reduce the ever threatening physical attacker. Shadow ball is there as a STAB move and helps threaten Dusclops, who if not removed can reverse TR, and also threaten Dragapult under TR.
Gastrodon @ Rindo Berry
Ability: Storm Drain
Level: 50
EVs: 196 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 56 Spe
Modest Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Surf
- Recover
Gastrodon is one of my favourite pokemon, and I wanted to use it alongside goodra so that I could make use of sap sipper as a switching threat to protect gastrodon from its 4x weakness. Max EVs in SpA as it acts as a reserve/TR special sweeper. The 56 EVs in speed means it is just quicker than Jellicent and so goes second under TR, allowing Jellicent to use surf to set up gastrodon. Earth Power is the main STAB move and the Sp.Def boost when dynamaxed can boost goodra into even higher tiers of Sp.Def resistance. Surf pairs with Jellicent well, and under trick room those two can set up very well together. Ice beam helps check grass types and also threatens togekiss, who can threaten goodra if excadrill isn't about. Overall I tend to bring Gastrodon almost every match as it is a menace to remove, but I do occasionally end up in difficulty when surf is my only viable option and the partner is excadrill/Goodra.
Clefable @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Follow Me
- Charm
- Life Dew
So I picked clefable as I wanted a bulky Follow me user to guarantee the TR set up. I went with this over Togekiss as I prefer the fewer weaknesses clefable has, as well as the magic guard ability. This has proven to be a really surprising gem, as it forces my opponent to target Clefable, apart from under follow me, and therefore gives my other pokemon room to breathe. Babiri berry is there to resist steel attacks, generally from excadrill. I've gone for max speed EVs and a timid nature so that it can be useful for the non-trick room mode as well, but this is something I am considering changing as it does make clefable very poor when against a trick room team. Life dew is for team recovery, and also acts as another way to set up gastrodon. Charm is also on clefable, so that if the opponent has a way of setting up psychic terrain, I can use clefable instead of whimsicott to neutralises physical attackers.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Horsepower
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Protect
Excadrill is my Physical sweeper and Fairy type counter. Max speed and attack IVs make this pokemon formidable under tailwind. Life orb adds to that power. This is a very standard excadrill set, with rock slide providing spread damage and the flinch chance, which has proven useful on a few occasions. Iron head is the main STAB move that threatens fairy types, and High Horsepower is generally used to counter opposing physical threats like another excadrill. Protect is a good utility move, but it has proven especially useful as it allows gastrodon to use surf without harming excadrill, but this does tend to bog me down as it limits what I can do.
Overall I really like my first effort, but when playing it definitely feels like I have two separate teams and there is something missing from the synergy. I also occasionally have difficulty against G-max Lapras, who can be a massive threat against my two main sweepers, Goodra with G-max resonance, and Gastrodon with Freeze Dry. The aurora veil going up is also problematic, as it usually leaves me with whimsicott and excadrill against it which are also bad in the matchup. Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Goodra @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
Level: 50
EVs: 84 HP / 164 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Surf
- Flamethrower
In my opinion, Goodra is the greatest looking pokemon ever. I've wanted to make a competitive team for a while and it seemed like a no brainer as to who I wanted to build around. Assault vest to make use of its natural Sp.Def Bulk. Goodra tends to be the dynamaxed pokemon, especially when the opposing team has some form of weather control. Flamethrower and surf allow me to change the weather at will under Dynamax, but I've picked surf over muddy water as it allows me to alternatively set up gastrodon as my dynamaxed pokemon. Dragon pulse is a good STAB move, and max wyrmwind allows me to reduce the threat of physical attackers. Thunderbolt gives me good coverage against threats like togekiss, and also bulky water types like milotic and lapras.
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Tailwind
- Fake Tears
- Charm
Support set for Whimsicott. Focus sash as usual so that it can take multiple hits and prankster to give it priority when setting up fake tears to allow goodra to 1-shot a lot of the bulkier pokemon, and charm to counter physical attackers such as Snorlax, who can be pretty difficult for goodra to remove if and when whimisoctt faints, removing the fake tears option.Tailwind is a natural pick to give some speed control, and allows goodra to outspeed physical attackers like excadrill once sand has been removed. Moonblast wraps up the set to give whimsicott some to get some chip damage, something which I have found useful against bulky setters like dusclops.
Jellicent @ Kasib Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Surf
- Strength Sap
- Shadow Ball
I wanted to have two forms of speed control, and as I also wanted to bring gastrodon TR seemed like a good option. Jellicent's ability makes is a good fit with gastrodon, as the double surf combo both sets up gastrodon quickly while making it difficult to remove jellicent. 0 Speed IVs are so Jellicent is slower than gastrodon and moves before it under TR. Strength Sap acts as another form of recovery, and if paired with goodra acts as another way to reduce the ever threatening physical attacker. Shadow ball is there as a STAB move and helps threaten Dusclops, who if not removed can reverse TR, and also threaten Dragapult under TR.
Gastrodon @ Rindo Berry
Ability: Storm Drain
Level: 50
EVs: 196 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 56 Spe
Modest Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Surf
- Recover
Gastrodon is one of my favourite pokemon, and I wanted to use it alongside goodra so that I could make use of sap sipper as a switching threat to protect gastrodon from its 4x weakness. Max EVs in SpA as it acts as a reserve/TR special sweeper. The 56 EVs in speed means it is just quicker than Jellicent and so goes second under TR, allowing Jellicent to use surf to set up gastrodon. Earth Power is the main STAB move and the Sp.Def boost when dynamaxed can boost goodra into even higher tiers of Sp.Def resistance. Surf pairs with Jellicent well, and under trick room those two can set up very well together. Ice beam helps check grass types and also threatens togekiss, who can threaten goodra if excadrill isn't about. Overall I tend to bring Gastrodon almost every match as it is a menace to remove, but I do occasionally end up in difficulty when surf is my only viable option and the partner is excadrill/Goodra.
Clefable @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Follow Me
- Charm
- Life Dew
So I picked clefable as I wanted a bulky Follow me user to guarantee the TR set up. I went with this over Togekiss as I prefer the fewer weaknesses clefable has, as well as the magic guard ability. This has proven to be a really surprising gem, as it forces my opponent to target Clefable, apart from under follow me, and therefore gives my other pokemon room to breathe. Babiri berry is there to resist steel attacks, generally from excadrill. I've gone for max speed EVs and a timid nature so that it can be useful for the non-trick room mode as well, but this is something I am considering changing as it does make clefable very poor when against a trick room team. Life dew is for team recovery, and also acts as another way to set up gastrodon. Charm is also on clefable, so that if the opponent has a way of setting up psychic terrain, I can use clefable instead of whimsicott to neutralises physical attackers.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Horsepower
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Protect
Excadrill is my Physical sweeper and Fairy type counter. Max speed and attack IVs make this pokemon formidable under tailwind. Life orb adds to that power. This is a very standard excadrill set, with rock slide providing spread damage and the flinch chance, which has proven useful on a few occasions. Iron head is the main STAB move that threatens fairy types, and High Horsepower is generally used to counter opposing physical threats like another excadrill. Protect is a good utility move, but it has proven especially useful as it allows gastrodon to use surf without harming excadrill, but this does tend to bog me down as it limits what I can do.
Overall I really like my first effort, but when playing it definitely feels like I have two separate teams and there is something missing from the synergy. I also occasionally have difficulty against G-max Lapras, who can be a massive threat against my two main sweepers, Goodra with G-max resonance, and Gastrodon with Freeze Dry. The aurora veil going up is also problematic, as it usually leaves me with whimsicott and excadrill against it which are also bad in the matchup. Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated.
