Introduction
Hi y’all! Now that AGLT is over, I wanted to make a few posts about the developing DLC2 AG metagame. I was planning on starting with a Team Bazaar post, but I felt that I had a lot to say about one team in particular. Instead, I decided to start here! This team has seen a lot of success so far, and it’s pretty solid overall, so I wanted to share the thought put behind it.
Proof Of Peak
(just trust me bro?)
I used this team for Cycle 1 of the AG Ladder Tournament. The ELO peak was good for the #1 seed in the playoffs.
Teambuilding Process
My initial objective was to create a balance team centered around bulky Arceus. This would give me a very simple answer to Scarf Calyrex-S, which sounded very appealing compared to saving a Tera Normal/Dark Pokémon for it every time. All of the Arceus structures I had in my teambuilder leaned towards offense, and a considerable amount of the Arceus had fast Lum Berry sets. Heavy-Duty Boots + Recover Arceus was omnipresent in DLC1, so I was pretty comfortable with it. Ting-Lu pairs very nicely with Arceus, as it can function as a backup Calyrex-S check and use Spikes. However, it was going to be included regardless, as its presence is mandatory on balance. Choice Scarf Koraidon is also a typical balance staple, and it creates a pretty nice revenge killing duo with Arceus.
Gotta have a PhysDef mon. Switching in on Scarf Koraidon is the top priority, so my choices boiled down to Arceus-Fairy and Ho-Oh. In addition to being vulnerable to Stealth Rock and Spikes, Arceus-Fairy would inevitably lead to complications with Zacian-C or Toxic Spikes down the line. Because of that, I settled on Ho-Oh. Defensive Ho-Oh is a pretty nice catch-all with a uniquely good matchup into opposing offensive Ho-Oh. I determined that Ho-Oh would be checking too many things at once, and therefore opted for Bulk Up Arceus. This would give me a backup check to Necrozma-DM and Bulky DD Arceus-Ground.
At this point it had become very apparent that I needed special attackers. Calyrex-S came to mind immediately. The defensive core in place has a very iffy matchup against Arceus, so a Heavy-Duty Boots + Encore Calyrex-S felt pretty obvious. Between Arceus, Choice Scarf Koraidon, and Calyrex-S, revenge killing became a nonissue.
Eternatus rounds out this team pretty nicely. I needed a Pokémon with a Toxic immunity, I needed a Kyogre check, and I needed a special breaker. I had nothing that resisted or was immune to Dragon-type damage, but that was nothing some creativity couldn’t fix.
The Team
Arceus @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multitype
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Atk / 76 SpD / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Extreme Speed
- Shadow Claw
- Recover
It’s an Arceus. The first mission of an Arceus is to make Calyrex-S miserable. The second, to be a hazard-immune revenge killer. And, finally, an Arceus aims to be an endgame cleaner. This is the life of an Arceus.
Bulk Up, as previously mentioned, is a countermeasure to Necrozma-DM and Bulky DD Arceus-Ground. This team has plenty of backup for Calyrex-S, which makes it marginally safer to terastallize. Tera Fire provides a pretty nice defensive profile, and more importantly, the ability to prevent burns from Ho-Oh or Arceus-Fairy late-game. However, Tera Fire Arceus should used as a trump card when one is sure it secures the win. Without being cautious, opposing Scarf Koraidon and Calyrex-S can take over games using the knowledge that nothing can Tera to stop them.
Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 212 HP / 44 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Ruination
- Tera Blast
The premier hazard stacker and Miraidon stopper of the Anything Goes metagame. It’s also a Calyrex-S check!….truth be told, this team has plenty of Calyrex-S checks. Because of this, Earthquake is the STAB attack of choice over Payback. Miraidon and Eternatus threaten this team a bit more than Calyrex-S can, and those Pokémon are the main focuses of this Ting-Lu. If an opponent does not have a Miraidon, one can feel free to be more aggressive about getting Spikes up (and spamming Ruination) early.
But, of course, I’ll have to address the elephant in the room. This team has no pressing need for Whirlwind at all. Bulk Up Arceus, Whirlwind Ho-Oh, Encore Calyrex-S, and a multitude of revenge killing options take care of setup sweepers just fine. The team doesn’t mind hazards enough to run Taunt, and Ho-Oh isn’t big enough an issue to run Stone Edge. Koraidon, though? Koraidon is a threat. Tera Fairy + Tera Blast is a fun way to stick it to Hyper Offense teams, as it reliably eliminates Scale Shot Koraidon. It can also stop regular ol’ Scarf Koraidon, but you’d prefer that it is already locked in to Outrage or Low Kick rather than risk it just U-Turn-ing out.
Koraidon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Low Kick
- Outrage
- U-turn
Choice Scarf Koraidon is easily the most well-rounded Pokémon in the entire metagame. Its sheer firepower and fantastic Dragon + Fire + Fighting coverage makes it an incredibly reliable revenge killer. If one move becomes spammable, Koraidon can easily become an endgame cleaner. Finally, its bulk is sufficient to ward off threats like Arceus early on. Choice Scarf Koraidon is, unfortunately, more vulnerable to mid/late-game hazards than the rest of the team. Spikes from opposing Ting-Lu can get up pretty often on Calyrex-S and Eternatus. The team can support Koraidon pretty well, though since Arceus and Calyrex-S can take care of revenge killing duties and Eternatus can pick up Toxic Spikes. Tera Steel hits a nice middle ground between resisting Dragon-type attacks and resisting Extreme Speed.
Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Whirlwind
Shiny Ho-Oh boosts morale, and also harms an opponent’s psyche (their team doesn’t look as cool.) Defensive Ho-Oh is a check of all trades: it checks Koraidon, it checks Arceus-Ground, it checks Arceus, it checks Zacian-C, it checks Necrozma-DM, and it checks Offensive Ho-Oh. It counters none, which is why the team is stacked with other softchecks and revenge killers. Ho-Oh is an incredible Pokémon overall, and it’s pretty easy to make progress (or atleast force recovery) through spamming its STAB attacks. Staying at high/full health is the key to keeping Ho-Oh’s ability to force threats out. This team lacks major bruisers, so forcing hazard damage through phazing and spreading burns is the easiest way to pick apart bulkier teams. Tera Fairy blocks opposing Koraidon’s Outrage or Scale Shot, but it leaves Ho-Oh vulnerable to burns. Eternatus can handle switching in to Sacred Fire or Will-O-Wisp in its stead.
Calyrex-Shadow @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 12 HP / 92 Def / 152 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Astral Barrage
- Draining Kiss
- Encore
Next up is Calyrex-S, the notorious boogeyman of AG. Having an Encore + Heavy-Duty Boots Calyrex-S vastly improves this team’s matchup into Hyper Offense, and provides a form of endgame counterplay to Arceus. Additionally, it can provide an emergency bail-out against CM Arcs that do not expect such an aggressive play.
Towards the end of the teambuilding process, I realized that terastallizing Calyrex-S would leave me very weak to Koraidon’s Outrage. Because of this, I turned to a set I used in DLC1. The lifesteal that Draining Kiss provides is pretty handy, as it can pester possible revenge killers like Arceus and Choice Scarf Calyrex-S. The EV spread allows Calyrex-S to survive a Jolly Koraidon’s Flare Blitz, as well as 2 Extreme Speeds from Arceus. In mid/late-game scenarios, it’s often very reasonable to bait out Outrage from Choice Scarf Koraidon with another team member and take it out using Tera Fairy + Draining Kiss. Overall, this Calyrex-S set is the highlight of the team and is often the true endgame cleaner.
Eternatus @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 176 HP / 40 Def / 64 SpA / 184 SpD / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Recover
- Toxic
- Fire Blast
Eternatus stands as this team’s primary early-game progress maker. Toxic backed by powerful Dragon and Fire coverage is a golden combination against bulkier teams. A very common interaction that allows Eternatus into the game is Choice Scarf Koraidon using U-Turn on an opponent’s switch to Ho-Oh. Such an interaction should provide Eternatus with Sun support, which causes Fire Blast to OHKO Zacian-C and deal a very large sum of damage to Necrozma-DM. Ting-Lu is often used to halt this Eternatus’s advance and set hazards. While opponents often think this is a favorable scenario for them, it compromises their ability to deal with Calyrex-S down the line. Tera Steel is very convenient for Eternatus, as it solves the 2 major problems of Dragon-type attacks and opposing Zacian-C. Additionally, it gives you a very solid method to stop Arceus without having to bring in Encore Calyrex-S.
Other Options
Koraidon’s Tera Steel is not too important. To be quite honest, Koraidon rarely terastallizes on this team anyways. An offensive tera type like Fire can serve as a decent alternative, if you feel so inclined to change it. Other than being less fun, Ting-Lu functions pretty much the same with Whirlwind over Tera Blast. This takes over some of Ho-Oh’s responsibilities of phazing out CM Groundceus or SD/BU Arceus. Thus, Ho-Oh’s Whirlwind could be replaced by something neat, like Imprison. Toxic Spikes over Fire Blast on Eternatus is alright, it makes a good matchup into Support Arceus formes better while making a rough matchup into Zacian-C worse.
Threat List
This team’s arch nemesis. Ho-Oh does a surprisingly good job of warding it off, as Zacian-C cannot beat it with Wild Charge without a significant amount of chip damage. Fire Blast Eternatus is the best way to lure and eliminate Zacian-C. It’s generally always worth it to use Tera Steel Eternatus (if needed) to take out Zacian-C. If presented with a Calyrex-S + Zacian-C core, Ho-Oh and Ting-Lu should be used as early-game Calyrex-S checks. This is because Zacian-C can come in for free on Arceus. Koraidon and Calyrex-S can revenge kill Zacian-C if need be, but overall, this Pokémon is the hardest wallbreaker to handle.
(Note: a
+ core is one of the toughest matchups possible, as Eternatus’s Fire Blast is neutralized by Rain.)
The wide array of Arceus-Ground sets pose a varying range of difficulty. Wisp Support Arceus-Ground is forced out by Ho-Oh pretty simply. Bulky Dragon Dance loses to Bulk Up Arceus and has rather limited setup opportunities. Calm Mind Arceus-Ground can be phazed out by Ho-Oh and is generally susceptible to chip damage and revenge killers. Offensive DD Arceus-Ground is a huge problem, and keeping offensive pressure and revenge killing capabilities is vital.
Miraidon being on this short list is less about this team in particular, and more about Miraidon just being really good into balance. Ting-Lu can hold it off it for a little while, and the team has a nice selection of revenge killers for it in Calyrex-S, Choice Scarf Koraidon, and Arceus. However, it can cause trouble if it gets in on Eternatus or Ho-Oh once Ting-Lu goes down. Using Eternatus’s Tera Steel is very reasonable, and going for Sacred Fire burns with Ho-Oh on a predicted switch to Miraidon is a fantastic way to bring it down.
Replays
Vs. Balance
Vs. Hyper Offense
AGLT Semifinals, Vs. Scarf Koraidon BO
(^ ft. Toxic Spikes>Fire Blast Etern)
Outro
As I’m sure this post implies, I enjoy building teams in DLC2 AG! I’ve detailed a lot of the nitpicks that one needs to sort through in AG, even for a largely standard structure. Thanks for reading! :)
Hi y’all! Now that AGLT is over, I wanted to make a few posts about the developing DLC2 AG metagame. I was planning on starting with a Team Bazaar post, but I felt that I had a lot to say about one team in particular. Instead, I decided to start here! This team has seen a lot of success so far, and it’s pretty solid overall, so I wanted to share the thought put behind it.
Proof Of Peak
I used this team for Cycle 1 of the AG Ladder Tournament. The ELO peak was good for the #1 seed in the playoffs.
Teambuilding Process
My initial objective was to create a balance team centered around bulky Arceus. This would give me a very simple answer to Scarf Calyrex-S, which sounded very appealing compared to saving a Tera Normal/Dark Pokémon for it every time. All of the Arceus structures I had in my teambuilder leaned towards offense, and a considerable amount of the Arceus had fast Lum Berry sets. Heavy-Duty Boots + Recover Arceus was omnipresent in DLC1, so I was pretty comfortable with it. Ting-Lu pairs very nicely with Arceus, as it can function as a backup Calyrex-S check and use Spikes. However, it was going to be included regardless, as its presence is mandatory on balance. Choice Scarf Koraidon is also a typical balance staple, and it creates a pretty nice revenge killing duo with Arceus.
Gotta have a PhysDef mon. Switching in on Scarf Koraidon is the top priority, so my choices boiled down to Arceus-Fairy and Ho-Oh. In addition to being vulnerable to Stealth Rock and Spikes, Arceus-Fairy would inevitably lead to complications with Zacian-C or Toxic Spikes down the line. Because of that, I settled on Ho-Oh. Defensive Ho-Oh is a pretty nice catch-all with a uniquely good matchup into opposing offensive Ho-Oh. I determined that Ho-Oh would be checking too many things at once, and therefore opted for Bulk Up Arceus. This would give me a backup check to Necrozma-DM and Bulky DD Arceus-Ground.
At this point it had become very apparent that I needed special attackers. Calyrex-S came to mind immediately. The defensive core in place has a very iffy matchup against Arceus, so a Heavy-Duty Boots + Encore Calyrex-S felt pretty obvious. Between Arceus, Choice Scarf Koraidon, and Calyrex-S, revenge killing became a nonissue.
Eternatus rounds out this team pretty nicely. I needed a Pokémon with a Toxic immunity, I needed a Kyogre check, and I needed a special breaker. I had nothing that resisted or was immune to Dragon-type damage, but that was nothing some creativity couldn’t fix.
The Team
Arceus @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multitype
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Atk / 76 SpD / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Extreme Speed
- Shadow Claw
- Recover
It’s an Arceus. The first mission of an Arceus is to make Calyrex-S miserable. The second, to be a hazard-immune revenge killer. And, finally, an Arceus aims to be an endgame cleaner. This is the life of an Arceus.
Bulk Up, as previously mentioned, is a countermeasure to Necrozma-DM and Bulky DD Arceus-Ground. This team has plenty of backup for Calyrex-S, which makes it marginally safer to terastallize. Tera Fire provides a pretty nice defensive profile, and more importantly, the ability to prevent burns from Ho-Oh or Arceus-Fairy late-game. However, Tera Fire Arceus should used as a trump card when one is sure it secures the win. Without being cautious, opposing Scarf Koraidon and Calyrex-S can take over games using the knowledge that nothing can Tera to stop them.
Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 212 HP / 44 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Ruination
- Tera Blast
The premier hazard stacker and Miraidon stopper of the Anything Goes metagame. It’s also a Calyrex-S check!….truth be told, this team has plenty of Calyrex-S checks. Because of this, Earthquake is the STAB attack of choice over Payback. Miraidon and Eternatus threaten this team a bit more than Calyrex-S can, and those Pokémon are the main focuses of this Ting-Lu. If an opponent does not have a Miraidon, one can feel free to be more aggressive about getting Spikes up (and spamming Ruination) early.
But, of course, I’ll have to address the elephant in the room. This team has no pressing need for Whirlwind at all. Bulk Up Arceus, Whirlwind Ho-Oh, Encore Calyrex-S, and a multitude of revenge killing options take care of setup sweepers just fine. The team doesn’t mind hazards enough to run Taunt, and Ho-Oh isn’t big enough an issue to run Stone Edge. Koraidon, though? Koraidon is a threat. Tera Fairy + Tera Blast is a fun way to stick it to Hyper Offense teams, as it reliably eliminates Scale Shot Koraidon. It can also stop regular ol’ Scarf Koraidon, but you’d prefer that it is already locked in to Outrage or Low Kick rather than risk it just U-Turn-ing out.
Koraidon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Low Kick
- Outrage
- U-turn
Choice Scarf Koraidon is easily the most well-rounded Pokémon in the entire metagame. Its sheer firepower and fantastic Dragon + Fire + Fighting coverage makes it an incredibly reliable revenge killer. If one move becomes spammable, Koraidon can easily become an endgame cleaner. Finally, its bulk is sufficient to ward off threats like Arceus early on. Choice Scarf Koraidon is, unfortunately, more vulnerable to mid/late-game hazards than the rest of the team. Spikes from opposing Ting-Lu can get up pretty often on Calyrex-S and Eternatus. The team can support Koraidon pretty well, though since Arceus and Calyrex-S can take care of revenge killing duties and Eternatus can pick up Toxic Spikes. Tera Steel hits a nice middle ground between resisting Dragon-type attacks and resisting Extreme Speed.
Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Whirlwind
Shiny Ho-Oh boosts morale, and also harms an opponent’s psyche (their team doesn’t look as cool.) Defensive Ho-Oh is a check of all trades: it checks Koraidon, it checks Arceus-Ground, it checks Arceus, it checks Zacian-C, it checks Necrozma-DM, and it checks Offensive Ho-Oh. It counters none, which is why the team is stacked with other softchecks and revenge killers. Ho-Oh is an incredible Pokémon overall, and it’s pretty easy to make progress (or atleast force recovery) through spamming its STAB attacks. Staying at high/full health is the key to keeping Ho-Oh’s ability to force threats out. This team lacks major bruisers, so forcing hazard damage through phazing and spreading burns is the easiest way to pick apart bulkier teams. Tera Fairy blocks opposing Koraidon’s Outrage or Scale Shot, but it leaves Ho-Oh vulnerable to burns. Eternatus can handle switching in to Sacred Fire or Will-O-Wisp in its stead.
Calyrex-Shadow @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 12 HP / 92 Def / 152 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Astral Barrage
- Draining Kiss
- Encore
Next up is Calyrex-S, the notorious boogeyman of AG. Having an Encore + Heavy-Duty Boots Calyrex-S vastly improves this team’s matchup into Hyper Offense, and provides a form of endgame counterplay to Arceus. Additionally, it can provide an emergency bail-out against CM Arcs that do not expect such an aggressive play.
Towards the end of the teambuilding process, I realized that terastallizing Calyrex-S would leave me very weak to Koraidon’s Outrage. Because of this, I turned to a set I used in DLC1. The lifesteal that Draining Kiss provides is pretty handy, as it can pester possible revenge killers like Arceus and Choice Scarf Calyrex-S. The EV spread allows Calyrex-S to survive a Jolly Koraidon’s Flare Blitz, as well as 2 Extreme Speeds from Arceus. In mid/late-game scenarios, it’s often very reasonable to bait out Outrage from Choice Scarf Koraidon with another team member and take it out using Tera Fairy + Draining Kiss. Overall, this Calyrex-S set is the highlight of the team and is often the true endgame cleaner.
Eternatus @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 176 HP / 40 Def / 64 SpA / 184 SpD / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Recover
- Toxic
- Fire Blast
Eternatus stands as this team’s primary early-game progress maker. Toxic backed by powerful Dragon and Fire coverage is a golden combination against bulkier teams. A very common interaction that allows Eternatus into the game is Choice Scarf Koraidon using U-Turn on an opponent’s switch to Ho-Oh. Such an interaction should provide Eternatus with Sun support, which causes Fire Blast to OHKO Zacian-C and deal a very large sum of damage to Necrozma-DM. Ting-Lu is often used to halt this Eternatus’s advance and set hazards. While opponents often think this is a favorable scenario for them, it compromises their ability to deal with Calyrex-S down the line. Tera Steel is very convenient for Eternatus, as it solves the 2 major problems of Dragon-type attacks and opposing Zacian-C. Additionally, it gives you a very solid method to stop Arceus without having to bring in Encore Calyrex-S.
Other Options
Koraidon’s Tera Steel is not too important. To be quite honest, Koraidon rarely terastallizes on this team anyways. An offensive tera type like Fire can serve as a decent alternative, if you feel so inclined to change it. Other than being less fun, Ting-Lu functions pretty much the same with Whirlwind over Tera Blast. This takes over some of Ho-Oh’s responsibilities of phazing out CM Groundceus or SD/BU Arceus. Thus, Ho-Oh’s Whirlwind could be replaced by something neat, like Imprison. Toxic Spikes over Fire Blast on Eternatus is alright, it makes a good matchup into Support Arceus formes better while making a rough matchup into Zacian-C worse.
Threat List
This team’s arch nemesis. Ho-Oh does a surprisingly good job of warding it off, as Zacian-C cannot beat it with Wild Charge without a significant amount of chip damage. Fire Blast Eternatus is the best way to lure and eliminate Zacian-C. It’s generally always worth it to use Tera Steel Eternatus (if needed) to take out Zacian-C. If presented with a Calyrex-S + Zacian-C core, Ho-Oh and Ting-Lu should be used as early-game Calyrex-S checks. This is because Zacian-C can come in for free on Arceus. Koraidon and Calyrex-S can revenge kill Zacian-C if need be, but overall, this Pokémon is the hardest wallbreaker to handle.
(Note: a
+ core is one of the toughest matchups possible, as Eternatus’s Fire Blast is neutralized by Rain.)The wide array of Arceus-Ground sets pose a varying range of difficulty. Wisp Support Arceus-Ground is forced out by Ho-Oh pretty simply. Bulky Dragon Dance loses to Bulk Up Arceus and has rather limited setup opportunities. Calm Mind Arceus-Ground can be phazed out by Ho-Oh and is generally susceptible to chip damage and revenge killers. Offensive DD Arceus-Ground is a huge problem, and keeping offensive pressure and revenge killing capabilities is vital.
Miraidon being on this short list is less about this team in particular, and more about Miraidon just being really good into balance. Ting-Lu can hold it off it for a little while, and the team has a nice selection of revenge killers for it in Calyrex-S, Choice Scarf Koraidon, and Arceus. However, it can cause trouble if it gets in on Eternatus or Ho-Oh once Ting-Lu goes down. Using Eternatus’s Tera Steel is very reasonable, and going for Sacred Fire burns with Ho-Oh on a predicted switch to Miraidon is a fantastic way to bring it down.
Replays
Vs. Balance
Vs. Hyper Offense
AGLT Semifinals, Vs. Scarf Koraidon BO
(^ ft. Toxic Spikes>Fire Blast Etern)
Outro
As I’m sure this post implies, I enjoy building teams in DLC2 AG! I’ve detailed a lot of the nitpicks that one needs to sort through in AG, even for a largely standard structure. Thanks for reading! :)
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