Pokemon World Championships Team Breakdown

Hey all - this is the team I brought to the 2025 World Championships, where I finished 7 wins and 3 losses, one win short of advancing to Top Cut. While this isn't my best performance ever at Worlds, I'm overall quite pleased with it - I had an extremely weird schedule, and I wasn't at my best mentally during the early rounds of the tournament. I think this is one of the strongest teams I've ever used, and I also believe that it was possible for me to win this year - and so although the finish isn't my best, I think this was a really great Worlds for me from a broader perspective.

My philosophy when it came to Regulation I was that because there are SO many viable restricted Pokemon, the format would be extremely wide. In wide formats, there are two things I prioritize - first, I want a team with extremely solid fundamentals so that I can handle every matchup I might run into. Second, I think experience with your team is the backbone of any successful Worlds run, as you'll be playing against a varied field and you need to know what to do in each matchup.

My immediate thought was that Koraidon and Lunala provided the best fundamentals of any restricted pairing. Koraidon is extremely fast and provides both burst offense and weather control. Setting the sun is especially important because it enables Protosynthesis Flutter Mane, providing a Pokemon that can outspeed every other Restricted. Lunala provides a defensive backbone and gives you access to a potent Trick Room mode, while also providing Wide Guard. I rounded out the team by adding Ursaluna as a "third" Restricted Pokemon, and then focused on finishing my defensive backbone with Incineroar and Amoonguss.

Pokepaste here: https://pokepast.es/65bdb2fdd2919f91

Koraidon is the simplest Pokemon to talk about - this is actually an identical, unchanged set to the one I used to win EUIC this year. The core idea is that Koraidon outspeeds and threatens a KO on a majority of the restricted Pokemon, and if you protect it well you can often attack two or three times, sometimes resulting in two KOs. The reason why I prefer it to Miraidon as a partner is that 1) it's a physical attacker, meaning Light Screen, Calm Mind, Snarl, and other specially bulking moves dont hinder both your restricteds simultaneously, 2) it enables Incineroar and Flutter Mane, and 3) It helps specifically with some of Lunalas problem matchups. Lunala excels at winning a war of attrition against teams without strong defensive backbones, but can struggle against super defensive teams like Kyogre or Terapagos based teams. Koraidon is the perfect partner because it can burst through defense, allowing Lunala to finish up. Life Orb Koraidon is needed for this role as you lack the burst damage otherwise.

Next, Lunala. It's trained to KO most Grimmsnarl with Fake Out + Tera Fairy Moonblast. The bulk gives it good odds to survive Adamant Chien-Pao Crunch without Tera, as well as to have a chance for Heavy Slam to be a 4 Hit KO from full HP. The special bulk allows it to survive tera electric Miraidon Electro Drift after taking a small amount of chip damage, as well as Timid Life Orb Astral Barrage. I needed every stat point I could get out of Lunala so I sacrificed my Speed EVs, as I figured I could always set Trick Room if I was too slow.

I brought Meteor Beam to my first event, but for my team I realized I needed Moonblast. Because Koraidon is frail, Lunala ends up being the primary restricted on this team, and the combination of Moonblast and Moongeist Beam hits nearly every Pokemon in the format for neutral damage at least.

Covert Cloak is an incredible item, and it allowed me to Terastalize Lunala without fear of becoming susceptible to Fake Out. Protecting against random stat drops, especially opposing Lunala Moonblast, is a big deal as well - Lunala at -1 special attack is a liability a lot of the time.

Flutter Mane is straightforward as well, and nearly identical to the version I brought to EUIC. The only difference is I changed from Normal Tera to Fairy Tera, and moved 4 EVs from HP to Defense. With Focus Sash you dont care about your bulk, so maxing out speed and special attack is the best use of your points. 4 EVs in Defense is better than HP because it can significantly change the damage roll against Choice Band Urshifu-W in the sun. Flutter Mane is here as a fast Pokemon that offers both speed control and burst damage. It's a really nice option against certain Miraidon teams, as well as teams that lack good speed control. Fairy Tera may seem strange when Stellar is an option as well that would boost Shadow Ball, but in my experience I found Fairy to be important vs certain Terapagos teams where you wanted Flutter Mane to 2 hit KO everything for an extended period of time.

Ursaluna is an incredible Pokemon, and was the tertiary offensive threat that really allowed the team to shine. One of the big decisions on Ursaluna is the speed point. In testing, I realized I hated speed tying with minimum speed Ursaluna, and that outspeeding Ice-Rider outside of Trick Room was really important - so I decided to go to 78 speed stat. This number is significant because it's exactly 1 speed below Incineroar, meaning I could use Incineroar to check whether Ursaluna would be faster than a Pokemon. It's also the same value as Lunala at -1 speed - meaning if my Lunala is faster than a Pokemon, I can Icy Wind them and Ursaluna will outspeed.

Ghost Tera provides immunity to Fake Out and Close Combat, two moves typically used to slow down Ursaluna. It's trained to survive Miraidon Draco Meteor plus a turn of burn from a Miraidon with Choice Scarf or Assault Vest, as well as to likely survive Glacial Lance from ice Rider. I went with nearly max attack as it's really important for Ursaluna to be picking up KOs when it attacks.

Amoonguss is the only Pokemon change from NAIC, when I used Brute Bonnet. I realized I was too weak to Zamazenta with Brute Bonnets Dark typing, and therefore I switched back to Amoonguss. It's an excellent Pokemon, and it's useful in more matchups than you'd expect - it's a surprisingly good Pokemon against Miraidon, and I used it to beat several Ice Rider teams at Worlds. It's trained to be as physically bulky as possible, surviving most Ice-Rider Glacial Lance and Chien-Pao Icicle Crashes, with enough bulk to survive Miraidon Draco Meteor if they lack a boosting item. Pollen Puff is incredible on a team with Lunala and Ursaluna, and can even be used with Incineroar and Koraidon to great effect. Water Tera helps in both the Koraidon and Kyogre matchups. I spent a long time agonizing over the item as I've never loved Rocky Helmet, and I tested many other options, but in the end I realized Rocky Helmet makes a big difference against Zamazenta, and so I locked it in.

Lastly, Incineroar. I wanted to avoid speed tying opposing Incineroar, so I ran 29 speed IV or 79 speed stat so I could reliably be slower. Fake Out and Parting Shot are standard moves - and personally, I really like Flare Blitz on Incineroar when there's Sun on the team. I realized I didn't need Knock Off, and unlike EUIC I also didn't need Protect, so I settled on Will-O-Wisp. This move is mostly for Zamazenta, but it has other uses as well. Ghost Tera is really nice with wide guard Lunala as you're able to wall CSR + Zama when factoring in Will-O-Wisp. I trained Incineroar to max out its special bulk, giving it a chance to survive choice specs Electro Drift inside Terrain. The special bulk was useful generally against stuff like Shadow Rider Chi-Yu and Terapagos, and I felt that surviving an attack my opponent expected to KO was worth more to me than having a more balanced spread.

After playing in the tournament, I can say confidently that this team was 100% finished. There's no more improvements to be made - every choice is precise and intentional. This team, when played correctly, can beat any team in the format - and while it isn't my best finish at Worlds, it is one of the teams I'm most proud of.