Hi, this is Pinky, and i'd like to introduce you to my Celestall team.
Firstly, this is the pokepaste of Yo.v2 ™:
https://pokepast.es/0810d27b3af3ebde
Secondly, i will give a brief explanation of how the team works in general before explaining you the role of each pokemon. As you already understood, the team centralises around Celesteela and its ability to wear down opponents while recovering its own HP, having an impressive bulk and maintaining
only two weaknesses:
electric and fire. I personally single out three "game stages": debut, midgame and endgame. We will talk about those a lot throughout my article. So, in theory, all that u need to do for Celesteela to seal the deal is remove all pokemon that threaten our main pokemon, such as Glastrier, different Rotom forms, Thundurus, Cinderace, Entei, Coalossal and many other strong pokemon/cores. As u've noticed, there are plenty of threats to Celesteela. The team is built for resisting/killing/lowering offensive presence of these pokemon while setting up leech seeds and winning the endgame.
Now, let's get a full picture of the team.
Before we start, i want to explain why am i using Protect on all pokemon on my team? The answer is both simple and dedicated. Of course, to scout out your opponent's actions, to stall out different mechanic's turns (such as terrain, Dynamax, Trick Room and other), and also to gain a mental advantage over your opponent. For example, not everyone expects a Protect Incineroar. You can use that fact to bait your opponent into an action which will, probably, lose them the game or give you a chance to win using your opponent's misplay.
Shall we move on?
The Main support aka The Burn Spreader, Milotic
Milotic is used, well, as a support to Garchomp because of its ability Competitive, which punishes intimidaters who want to come in on Chomp, while boosting Milotic's own power, as it can be really effective against a non-careful trainer using the double intimidate core or stat-lowering max moves (max wyrmwind, max phantasm, max strike etc.). Scald is an incredibly useful move because of its 30% burn chance, which, with a hax god's blessing, can really cripple opponent's physical attackers upon switching (not only this way), while providing important chip damage (-6%) to opponent's bulky pokemon, which are hard to ohko (Dusclops, Moltres-g, Porygon-2 etc.). For example, a Celesteela vs
burned Porygon-2 endgame will
force Porygon to Recover because of tons of passive damage (12% from seeds + 6% from burn) combined with Celesteela's 120 BP Heavy Slam, therefore winning the PP war and as a result, a game. Milotic is also an incredibly bulky pokemon, with the spread i've developed being able to survive Metagross's +2 Max Quake, +2 Moltres-g's Airstream/Darkness, and afterwards being able to
Haze. This is another role of Milotic on this team, as it allows you to disrupt your opponent's Weakness Policy strategies, therefore gaining a tactical advantage, as many players expect Milotic to be the Coil+Hypnosis set, but this is not the case for my team. Recover is used for general longevity, and i've already explained the importance of protect for this team above. In conclusion, Milotic is used for being a disruptive, bulky support pokemon which can also hit hard under special conditions.
Some useful calculations:
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 196 HP / 196+ Def Milotic in Grassy Terrain: 146-174 (74.8 - 89.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
+2 252+ SpA Moltres-Galar Max Airstream vs. 196 HP / 108 SpD Milotic: 154-183 (78.9 - 93.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Metagross Max Quake vs. 196 HP / 196+ Def Milotic: 147-174 (75.3 - 89.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
The Main Rotom Killer aka The Shark, Garchomp
Garchomp is simple. Kill all fire and electric types. Kill everything. Boost up yout SpDef with STAB Max Quakes! Chomp is chosen for it's immense power and ability to remove electric and fire types for Celesteela, while clearing opponent's team to limit switching, which can disrupt leech seed stall. Stone Edge is chosen over Rock Slide for more power out of Dynamax, and high crit ratio can help sometimes. Earthquake is chosen over Stomping Tantrum for incredible spamming ability when paired with Celesteela on the field. Even though Garchomp doesn't have any bulk investment besides 4 HP Evs, he is bulky enough to take 1 or 2 super effective moves. In conclusion, Chomp is used to get past pokemon with which other teammates have trouble dealing.
Some calcs:
+2 252+ Atk Metagross Max Steelspike vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Dynamax Garchomp: 261-307 (70.9 - 83.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Moltres-Galar Max Airstream vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Dynamax Garchomp: 232-274 (63 - 74.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Garchomp Max Rockfall vs. 212 HP / 4 Def Dynamax Moltres-Galar: 208-247 (54.1 - 64.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252 Atk Life Orb Garchomp Max Quake vs. 244 HP / 72 Def Incineroar: 198-234 (98.5 - 116.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO incredible :)
The Celesteela Defender aka Rat the Parahax, Raichu
Raichu is a very important part of the team. It is, obviously, a Lightning Rod pokemon, which supports Milotic and Celesteela, protecting them form super effective electric-type moves. It also offers incredible speed (110 isn't bad), Fake Out, which is an amazing tool, which is able to force your opponent into protecting mindgames, and generally pressure him hard enough to open a room for your teammate to attack/set up. Next important tool on Raichu is
Nuzzle. I mainly use it when opponent doesn't have an intimidater on the team, and their team is built rather offensively (no long-paced strategies such as Trick Room and others based on set up), as an example i can refer to weather-based teams as they usually replace Incineroar for Entei, and Garchomp naturally outspeeds and OHKO's (in Venuzaur's case 2HKO's) all of weather-reliant attackers (Kingdra, Venusaur), but when weather is up they pose immediate threat to Chomp, and such cases are why I need Nuzzle on my Raichu, as it offers 100% accurate speed control, and can hinder other pokemon who pose threat to Garchomp (Dragapult, Kartana etc.), as them having their speed halved lets Chomp
outspeed and OHKO them. Volt Switch is used mainly for momentum and tricky situations, such as using Max Quake into a Volt Switching into Celesteela Raichu baits opponent's Max turn. Protect is, once again, being used for mental advantage over opponent and general longevity (bad explanation, idk is i can even use a word "longevity" to describe a non-av Chu, lol), although some players expect Raichu to have protect nowadays. Focus Sash is the chosen item for giving Raichu "the second chance", as its bulk speaks to it, and for
kamikaze switch-ins. In conclusion, Raichu is one of key pokemon both for supporting offense and defense.
There are no interesting calcs for Raichu, sadly.
The Ussr Boi aka Omfg Why is That Thing So Bulky, Celesteela
Celesteela is the star of the team, able to win literally any endgame if there is no Rotom-Heat/Regieleki/+2 Dynamaxed Glastrier, or the team's player didn't misled/misplayed heavily. Benefits of using celestall as an archetype are: 1) literally no one builds to counter you in this meta 2) a well-composed Celesteela team as answers to everything that can beat Celesteela and everything that it struggles to deal with. So, let's look at set details. Many players now tend to use offensive (Life Orb, WP, Power Herb) Celesteela set, but this is not the case for me. I like more slow-paced games, where u have to think twice before clicking a button and have control over your opponent's actions. So, i chose celestall as an archetype, which is closer to "Balance", than to complete stall, as u can't use
complete stall in vgc (u can, but I don't think u'r going to win higher 1100). Leech Seed is a move which many players love and many players hate, it "drains" 10%-12% of "infected" pokemon's HP, while regaining stolen health to the Active Slot it has been used on (rather right or left slot). For example, if u seeded a pokemon on the right slot,
any active pokemon on that slot will drain/recover HP while on that slot, but only on that slot, so Leech Seed doesn't work like Sand Tomb or Magma Storm. We can use this to
passively heal any pokemon on our team, providing u can switch it in. Protect is used in conjunction with Leech Seed to recover 36% of health every "Celeturn" (Celeturn is both a turn when u had your non-protective move used followed by a Protect turn) (12+6+12+6=36%), while passively draining 24% off any seeded pokemon. So, if any of Celesteela's attacking moves deals at least 26% of damage and your opponent has no recovery moves/passive healing (Leftovers, Grassy Terrain), u can beat
any pokemon in 2 celeturns providing that both conditions are fulfilled. I think it is enough of complicated things, let's move to our attacking moves. Heavy Slam is a powerful STAB option, which also has a benefit of boosting Celesteela's Defense through Max Steelspike, and if u KO a fairy with it (which is quite simple) u will get +1 in both defenses thanks to Celesteela's ability, Beast Boost, which makes it even tougher to defeat when let out of control with defensive boosts. Flamethrower is used as a tool to OHKO Kartanas (without Flamethrower Celesteela would've really struggled against Kartanas) and deal +70% damage to Ferrothorn, another pokemon Celesteela would've struggled against without Flamethrower. It also has more effect on Glastrier since our premiere attacking move is only 40 BP against him
. In conclusion, i could write a book about how good Celesteela is at seeding, but this is it for now.
Interesting calcs:
252+ SpA Life Orb Venusaur-Gmax Weather Ball (100 BP Fire) vs. 244 HP / 92+ SpD Celesteela in Sun: 172-203 (84.7 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Glastrier Max Hailstorm vs. 244 HP / 172 Def Celesteela: 142-169 (69.9 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Wild Charge vs. 244 HP / 172 Def Celesteela: 151-182 (74.3 - 89.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Kingdra Max Geyser vs. 244 HP / 92+ SpD Celesteela in Rain: 144-172 (70.9 - 84.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Torkoal Heat Wave vs. 244 HP / 92+ SpD Celesteela in Sun: 168-198 (82.7 - 97.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
The Best Pivot aka OMG PROTECT INCIN?, Incineroar
sorry for this one being this big it speaks to how important it is xD
Incineroar is my tool for dealing with strong physical attackers, such as Glastrier, Urshifu-D, Kartana, Rillaboom and many others. It offers, well, Intimidate, which is known to be one of the best abilities in the game, and Parting Shot to lower offensive presence on opposing side of the field, while gaining switch momentum. This momentum can be used similar way as Raichu uses his Volt Switch in order to gain advantage of Celesteela's incredible typing. The reason i love PhysDef Incin is that it easily switches onto Glast and Lando's super effective moves, acting as a pivot into Glastrier's Max Hailstorm used into Garchomp, as an example. I already wrote about Fake Out above, so let's move on to Flare Blitz, a STAB, strongest move available to Incineroar(u can see the calc below to make sure it is powerful). Protect. I've (once again repeating) already wrote about importance of Protect on any mon above, but in Incineroar's case it enables better longevity and, once again, a turn-waste for your opponent which u can use to your advantage. I use Iapapa Berry as a hold item because i already have Sitrus Berry used, and this Incineroar set is brought below 1/3 of its HP more often than to 1/2 of its HP. In conclusion, Incineroar is used for its immense bulk and ability to control offensive momentum on the other side of the field, while countering one of the most threatening pokemon in the metagame, Glastrier.
Some calcs:
252+ SpA Venusaur Max Quake vs. 244 HP / 36 SpD Incineroar: 144-170 (71.6 - 84.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (50% chance roll with life orb Venu)
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Max Airstream vs. 244 HP / 124+ Def Incineroar: 173-204 (86 - 101.4%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Max Knuckle vs. 244 HP / 124+ Def Incineroar: 169-200 (84 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Life Orb Glastrier Max Quake vs. 244 HP / 124+ Def Incineroar: 133-159 (66.1 - 79.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 Atk Incineroar Flare Blitz vs. 244 HP / 4 Def Glastrier: 122-146 (59.2 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
The Stupid Monke Jokes aka No Water Types Available Rn, Rillaboom
Rillaboom's role in this team is to use Taunt, as there are, unfortunately, no moveslots for this wonderful move on my team (protect incin, remember?). He uses it solely for dusclops/amoonguss combo, which is led quite often on hard-tr teams, as Spore ruinis both Celesteela and Garchomp. He also
destroys pokemon such as Gastrodon, Urshifu-W, Rotom-Wash and generally weakened pokemon. And he has Fake Out. "Wait Pinky, is this triple Fake Out?" - u'r going to ask, and i'll answer - yes, it is. Because pressure and momentum. One thing i want to add is that G-Max Drum Solo is a f*ucking
NUKE. It 2HKO's literally everything, as after STAB+Miracle Seed+Terrain+Boosted Max Power it reaches 249.5 Base Power. This is like 2 Bloom Dooms right to the face in one turn. And u can use it 3 turns in a row. Crazy. It is Eved 148 Speed to reach 124 Speed, which is enough to outspeed max Speed Life Orb Lapras, which team kinda struggles against. In conclusion, Rillaboom is kind of a nichepick, because he is only used for certain matchups.
The One And Only Calc:
252+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom-Gmax G-Max Drum Solo vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Dynamax Lapras in Grassy Terrain: 474-560 (100 - 118.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
The team reached 1807 (top 100 on ladder)
I'll also leave some replays for those who are interested in how the team is actually behaving on the field, i hope u enjoy!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021-1247621422
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021-1249678444-n696l4uw53wwuxllzjo7ubli28fy94bpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021-1249686916-imop2wxt83s1xh6kktyra7cvxbu6tzcpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021-1250121626-od6ct27e7xiuen5dk44ejwsvdjdd20bpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021-1254585646
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021-1254624340
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021-1289640623-b1k7l1uol35vmezdsht2y7smpwg7q7npw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021-1318343322
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021-1318345501
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021series9-1322758426
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021-1322882668
Thank you all guys who read this whole (and to everyone who haven't) article, i'd really appreciate if you leave a positive reply for this article, as i spent a lot of time and patience writing this. I hope u liked the team!