Yanmega Top 8 Team Report

Hey all, here's the team I used to finish top 8 at this weekends Louisville Regional Championships. I built the team with my friend Yotam who also made it into top cut.

Export: https://pokepast.es/2ce3f8a276f18323

Rental code: 01NTGP

Team explanation:

This team started with the idea that Porygon2, Ursaluna, and Incineroar are a very strong core, but I didn't like the Amoonguss/Flamigo/Gholdengo version because it is overall very slow and puts a lot of the emphasis on Ursaluna to do the damage. So I wanted to start with these three Pokemon and build a team out that had both speed and power to allow for flexible game play. I was looking for a tailwind setter to help with this, but I wanted an offensive one - and the only Pokemon that outsped Dragapult (with abilities) weren't offensive enough - but then I saw that Yanmega learned tailwind and also has a good special attack stat. I added Sneasler next to help with Kingambit and to provide a fast Pokemon on the team, as well as to get fighting coverage for Porygon2, both Ursaluna, and Archaludon, and finished the team off with Archaludon to help with Primarina, Follow Me, and to get another strong special attacker. I'm going to talk about the Pokemon in a different order than I added them to the team because of the EV spreads.

Yanmega: The star of the show, Speed Boost + Tailwind is a very good combination. Yanmega outspeeds every meta relevant Pokemon after just one speed boost, and will get any fast choice scarf users after two. It even outspeeds Adamant Unburden Sneasler, Maushold in Tailwind, and Lilligant-H in sun after three speed boosts. The moves are straightforward - Tailwind for speed control, Detect for speed boosts and to keep it alive, and its two strongest STAB moves. Yanmega hits surprisingly hard, typically doing 35% to bulky Pokemon with a neutral hit and often 50% to frailer Pokemon (Bug Buzz KOs Garchomp in two hits for example). Air Slash's huge 30% Flinch rate also matters when the Pokemon is so fast. The EVs are enough speed to outspeed Jolly Basculegion, max special attack, and the remaining points in defense to increase the odds that Dragon Darts will not KO with two darts from Adamant Choice Band Dragapult. Ghost Tera helps with fake out and extreme speed - the focus sash is very useful on Yanmega as it forces opponents to spend two attack to get rid of it, which can be tough with the other threats on the team.

Sneasler: Normally Sneasler holds the focus sash, but that wasn't possible here because Yanmega already had one. So instead I decided to use a bulkier Sneasler with White Herb Unburden, to still survive attacks. Adamant 76 Sneasler is only a few points weaker than Jolly 252, and after Unburden Sneasler is way faster than Jolly Poison Touch. I knew this slot had to have Protect to combo with Yanmega and to help against Trick Room, so I chose to drop Fake Out for Throat Chop. While it isn't very strong, I needed some way to hit Gholdengo and Dragapult, especially Gholdengo since neither Porygon2 or Yanmega can damage it very easily. I tried a few defensive teras on Sneasler but since it always goes down in two hits, I settled on an offensive one - Primarina, Rillaboom, and Tera Dark Kingambit all survive your STAB moves so I liked having Stellar as an option. Sneasler is EVd to survive +2 Tera Dark Blackglasses Kingambit Sucker Punch.

Archaludon: I wanted a strong special attacker and eventually settled on Archaludon. I initially had Sturdy, but ultimately decided Stalwart was better to help vs Electabuzz, Magmar, and Clefable. I knew if I wanted to run Stalwart I'd need more bulk, so I dropped a ton of speed and special attack to make up for it. Protect is a given, Electro Shot is the main draw with Power Herb as it allows you to boost your attack, and I chose Dragon Pulse as I don't like missing with Draco Meteor and I didn't want to drop my special attack. I initially had Flash Cannon, the default move, as the last here, but ultimately changed to Thunderbolt. I was having trouble with the combination of Primarina or Kingambit + a redirector, and Flash Cannon and Dragon Pulse had too much trouble. With thunderbolt I could also justify tera electric on Archaludon, since it now boosted two moves - tera electric electro shot will OHKO most Gholdengo. Archaludon is trained to outspeed Modest Pelipper, KO Primarina with non-tera electro shot, and survive +2 Blackglasses Tera Dark Kingambit Sucker Punch.

Ursaluna: Ursaluna is basically a restricted Pokemon, so I decided to use it for the first time on a serious team. It's very strong - this team isn't built around enabling it as much as some other teams, but it's still a very good attacker. The item and ability are a given, with flame orb burning Ursaluna to power up Guts and Facade. The moves are standard - some players drop earthquake for shadow claw, sub, or swords dance, but I think Earthquake is broken especially when paired with Yanmega who is immune, or tera flying Porygon2. I went with Tera Ghost to make Ursaluna immune to Fighting moves and Fake Out, as I didn't want Fake Out wasting my speed control turns. The EVs are a bit unusual - Ursaluna is fast enough to outspeed Annihilape and Gholdengo in Tailwind, has enough attack to KO most Rillaboom with Facade, and survives +2 tera dark blackglasses Kingambit Sucker Punch after a turn of burn most of the time.

Porygon2: One of the bulkiest Pokemon in the format, Porygon2 is a really reliable Trick Room setter with Eviolite. The moves are standard but whereas most Porygon2 run tera fighting, I went with flying - this gave me an earthquake immunity, a fighting resistance, and a good offensive type vs Amoonguss. I didn't like how Fighting made you weak to Fairy as Kingambit (who you wanted to tera for) often came with Primarina, and fighting didn't resist Sneaslers close combat so you'd still take a lot of damage. The moves are standard, and I went with download because after a special attack boost Porygon2 is hard to ignore. I gave Porygon2 enough speed to outspeed Pawmot and Garchomp in Tailwind - I'll explain the bulk in a second.

Incineroar: Incineroar/Porygon2/Ursaluna form a solid core, and Incineroar also pairs well with Yanmega. I chose to focus Incineroar entirely on supporting the rest of the team. The moves are standard, and I went with tera ghost for the fake out and fighting immunity. My team had limited Amoonguss immunities so safety goggles was a given. I wanted Incineroar to outspeed other Incineroar, so I could use fake out before they moved while Porygon set trick room, and then parting shot after they moved so I could bring Ursaluna in without losing the flame orb. Incineroar also outspeeds Sneasler and Adamant Dragapult in Tailwind.

Incineroar and Porygon2 are both not trained for specific attacks. Instead, they're trained to force opposing Porygon2 to get an Attack Download boost. Porygon2 could be a bit tricky for my team, especially since I have four fighting weaknesses, but I found it was mostly a problem with a special attack boost. By training Incineroar and Porygon2 this way, I could ensure that as long as Archaludon was not on the field and EITHER Incin or P2 were, the opposing Porygon2 would always get the wrong download boost. So I chose Incineroar and Porygons stats based on how the stats of my other Pokemon ended up - with Ursaluna having the biggest gap between Defense and Special Defense, I made sure the gap was one point greater in the other direction for these two. Archaludons stat difference was far too great, but I didn't intend to bring Archaludon vs these teams so I thought this was acceptable.

Overall this team felt really strong, and I was impressed by it. Thanks for the support this weekend!