VGC Koraidon Sun Team Prototype

[Yenxe]

Koraidon has been one of my favorite Pokémons in the past, and now it’s in the new VGC format, I’m excited to try and use it on an actual competitive team for the first time. Unfortunately, I’m not the greatest when it comes to team building, so any suggestions and/or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

@ Clear Amulet
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Collision Course
- Drain Punch
- Tera Blast
- Protect

The main star of the show, Koraidon himself. Functions as the backbone of my team in order to set my other Paradox mons up as well as to combat other weather setters like Tornadus and Kyogre. I went with Clear Amulet here just so that mons such as Incin can't affect my offensive capabilities, but I think that there may be a better item for him, just that I can't seem to find it. With double weakness to Fairy, I went with Tera Steel, which also gives it resistance to Ice and removing his Flying type weakness. Collision Course I went simply for the sake of having his signature move on him; there are probably better moves out there, but I put it on him for the vibes. Drain Punch can heal him back up, and Tera Blast allows him to deal with Flutter Mane as well as Chien-Pao, two mons I seem to run into everywhere. Protect is, well, Protect.

@ Focus Sash
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Spinner
- Sacred Sword
- Sucker Punch
- Protect

Chien-Pao has been really good, and I think that he will still be dominant in this format, especially with the introduction of Caly-S and Groudon. Tera Ghost to remove his weakness to Fairy, as well as to make it immune to Fighting with Urshifus running around everywhere. And if I can't Tera him, Sash should keep him in the fight a while longer. Since I don't have a terrain setter, I went with Ice Spinner instead of Icicle Crash in order to remove pesky Electric and Psychic Terrains. Sacred Sword is a solid coverage move, and Sucker Punch for priority.

(F) @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ivy Cudgel
- Spiky Shield
- Wood Hammer
- Follow Me

Ogerpon is here basically out of pure spite for Urshifu. I've lost to stupid Surging Strikes so many times that I decided to put a Water Absorb mon to hard counter it, especially since most Urshifus run Choice Scarf. It's basically the standard Waterpon: Ivy Cudgel for big boom booms, Protect on steroids, Wood Hammer for more big boom booms, and Follow Me to redirect stupid Surging Strikes.

@ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave

First Paradox mon here, and what a surprise, Flutter Mane. Not proud of using her, but she's simply too strong to not include, not to mention the synergy with Koraidon. I made a few changes to the normal Flutter Manes that are commonly used; I'm not running Moonblast due to the fact that I need utility moves, which are Taunt and Thunder Wave. With the introduction of Caly-I, I am expecting Trick Room to be very commonplace, causing Taunt, and also disabling common Tailwinds. And due to the lack of speed control I have, I put Thunder Wave in order to slow my opponents' down. I normally put Specs on her, but because of Taunt and T-Wave, I put Leftovers instead. I would go for Life Orb, but I have it on my Raging Bolt instead. There's probably a better item, but I'll run this for now until I can find a better one.

@ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Pollen Puff
- Rage Powder
- Protect

Just in case I couldn't bring Waterpon or if it goes down, I have an alternative to counter Urshifu. Besides that, Amoongus is simply a great support mon. Rocky Helmet punishes any physical attackers, which are not that uncommon. And in case of Fire or Caly-I, Tera Water should allow it to survive quite well. Other than that, it's basically the standard Amoongus that are commonly found in teams. Spore for sleeps, Pollen Puff to heal up teammates, Rage Powder to redirect.

@ Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Snarl
- Thunderclap
- Volt Switch
- Draco Meteor

And the final mon of my team, Raging Bolt. I made a few changes to the standard Raging Bolt in order to accommodate for the new Restricted mons, mainly Caly-S. Snarl is there in order to lower its monstrous SpAtk. Thunderclap is a great STAB priority move, and Volt Switch allows for efficient repositioning while dealing a good amount of damage, and Draco Meteor does huge boom booms with STAB and its great SpAtk stat. Tera Fairy allows it to become immune to Dragon type attacks it would normally suffer from, as well as taking away its Ground type weakness.

And that's my team prototype. There's probably a lot of work to be done, but I just wanted to share my thoughts and receive any possible feedback from people who are more experienced than me. Thanks!

 

[DaRotomMachine]

If is accommodated to deal with , I think Assault Vest over Life Orb helps more.

 

[Omastar68]

Is it at all possible to slot in a fire move on koraidon? Just cause it's a sun team, seems important.

 

[Yenxe]

Is it at all possible to slot in a fire move on koraidon? Just cause it's a sun team, seems important.

Yeah I went back and added Flare Blitz and Flame Charge instead of Drain Punch and Tera Blast, although I think I might keep Tera Blast.

 

[Yenxe]

If is accommodated to deal with , I think Assault Vest over Life Orb helps more.

Mmm I see, thanks!

 

[Mr.GX]

Alright then, so where do we start

Koraidon/Flutter Mane/Raging Bolt/Chien-Pao is a strong core that can dish out strong offensive pressure. At least that was the case. The current format doesn't really do Koraidon's might justice since Rain Dance Tornadus and Pelipper usage has spiked, and that puts your entire team as a big disadvantage. I'll list some of the struggles the team might go through:

• Calyrex-Ice/Pelipper/Urshifu - A standard Caly-Ice team. Tera grass Caly-I with Pelipper's support instantly shuts down your team and deals way too much damage before you can set up Sun again.
• Kyogre - Raging Bolt do handle it to an extent, however the LO set quickly gets taken out by their Landorus-I. Their Amoonguss also serves as a deterrent.
• Zamazenta/Pelipper - Similar to Caly-I/Peli, once you lose access to Sun, your offense is reduced signifantly.
• Calyrex-Shadow - You have a flutter, yes. That is not enough for this match up, unfortunately. They can redirect and Astral Barrage to OHKO it and get a boost. From there, Calyrex-Shadow sweeps.

While these might seem like some huge matchup issues, most of these can be fixed to an extent so you can still play around said match ups without auto losing to them. I shall list a few changes which can significantly help improve your match up:

• Walking Wake/Ogerpon-H > Ogerpon-W: Solid offensive options that works very well in Sun. Walking Wake has the added benefit of OHKO'ing Inci/Rilla/Shifu, and instantly threatens Calyrex-Ice and Amoonguss. Not to mention, Hydro Steam gets boosted in Rain as well. Protosynthesis further boosts it's speed so Wake can outspeed Choice Scarf Urshifu and Calyrex-Shadow. Ogerpon-H, on the other hand, hits ridiculously hard and can potentially OHKO Calyrex-Shadow, and also works very well into Kyogre IF Sun is up. These are some great offensive additions to the team for this slow along with the following support mon.
• Safety Goggles Rotom-Wash (Tera-Poison): Will-O-Wisp/Eerie Impulse/Volt Switch/Hydro Pump/Protect (Choose either Eerie or Protect). What does Wash-tom do? Absolutely walls Caly-I and Amoonguss, and burns it. Furthermore, plays as a pivot to restore Sun. The least practical mon on the team right now is Ogerpon-W. Sun counteracts it's Ivy Cudgel, and you already have Amoonguss for redirection. Tera-Poison Wash-Tom also works wonders to WoW Zamazenta and Rillaboom, and Volt Switch onto Pelipper to restore Sun. Another option you can run over Protect is Electric Terrain to win Terrain wars and make your entire team Sleep-immune.
• Choice Specs > Leftovers on Flutter Mane: Flutter is already frail as it is. Lefties is not helping it's longevity at all. With Choice Specs, you can capitalize on the Protosynthesis boost and try to deal as much damage as possible. Choice Specs is also very strong as a late game sweeper with Dazzling Gleam. I would change the moveset to an offensive one as well. Feel free to try out bulkier Choice Specs sets by sacrificing SpA stat, depending on your comfort zone.
• Assasult Vest > Life Orb on Raging Bolt: Much better Rain matchup, you comfortably tanks Astral Barrage and Snarls them back. You gain enough offensive boost from Protosynthesis, LO isn't really needed. Running AV also really helps vs Raging Bolt mirrors and Miraidon. I would also advice to run a standard AV Bolt spread as well.
• Amoonguss EV is inefficient: Run 236 HP / 156 Def / 116 SpD (Bold). You comfortably tanks Jolly Chien-Pao Icicle Crash, while still having sufficient SpD investment.
• Koraidon Nature/Tera/Moveset: Run Jolly Nature, with Tera Fire, and a moveset of Protect/U-Turn/Collission Course/Flare Blitz. Yes, I mentioned U-Turn instead of the standard Flame Charge. It IS an option you can try out against Pelipper/Tornadus/Kyogre teams. Having a fast Pivot can be detrimental in winning weather wars.

Here is a PokePaste I prepared. Feel free to work around with this. I have not provided the EV's for Rotom-Wash as it has to be tested extensively before figuring out your comfort set.

Paste

Hope this helped, good luck!