Hi everyone, I’m Cheong Suwoong (@CheongSuwoong), the 2018 Korean National Champion, and I’m here to present you the team I used to reach the 4th Place at the recent Korean Winter League. In Korea, 3rd grade students in high school need to prepare for Korean SAT, so I expected this to be my last tournament, and therefore I just prepared for it from time to time.
How I came up with the team
As soon as the VGC 19 rules were announced, I started to prepare for Korean Winter League. However, I could not decide on which team to use until the night before the event, so with help from my friend @NashVGC, I was about to use the Xerneas/Lunala composition used by Eduardo Cunha at the Oceania International Championships.
However, right afterwards, my best friend and collegue, @nicky030526, and I completed a build we had in process. So, this was how I came with the DialOgre team I ended up using at the event. Huge thanks to @nicky030526 for helping finishing the team, as he devoted so much into it.
The Team
Kyogre @ Waterium Z
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 228 SpA / 28 SpD
Modest Nature
– Protect
– Water Spout
– Origin Pulse
– Thunder
I simply added a Waterium Z onto the Kyogre set I used during the Sun series. Thanks to the HP invest, I could get the solid bulk that scarved versions don’t have, whereas Hydro Vortex KOes Groudon under the sun and does a lot of damage even to resisting Pokémon. This Kyogre build in particular fits both Tailwind and Trick Room, so I used it in any match up, given that my team was able to support both modes.
228+ SpA Kyogre Hydro Vortex (200 BP) vs. 132 HP / 252+ SpD Groudon in Sun: 156-186 (81.2 – 96.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO 228+ SpA Kyogre Hydro Vortex (200 BP) vs. +2 4 HP / 0 SpD Xerneas in Rain: 157-186 (77.7 – 92%) — guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Kyogre Thunder vs. 252 HP / 28 SpD Kyogre: 112-134 (54.1 – 64.7%) — guaranteed 2HKO +2 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 28 SpD Kyogre: 159-187 (76.8 – 90.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO 100 Atk Groudon Tectonic Rage (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Kyogre: 178-211 (85.9 – 101.9%) — 18.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 28 SpD Kyogre in Electric Terrain: 138-164 (66.6 – 79.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO
Dialga @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 44 SpA / 212 SpD
Quiet Nature
– Protect
– Flash Canon
– Thunder
– Trick Room
Dialga’s Steel/Dragon typing makes it quite strong against Kyogre teams. Some would say it has gone away from the metagame, but there is always a couple of Dialga in the top games, as it is still powerful enough for this metagame. While I generally use Dialga to set up the Trick Room so my other Pokémon such as Kyogre have a better time on the field, should my opponent have an Amoonguss, Dialga can still be used outside of the Trick Room.
44+ SpA Dialga Thunder vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Kyogre: 102-120 (57.9 – 68.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO 44+ SpA Dialga Flash Cannon vs. +2 4 HP / 0 SpD Xerneas: 74-90 (36.6 – 44.5%) — guaranteed 3HKO 100 Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Dialga: 134-158 (64.7 – 76.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Figy Berry recovery
252+ SpA Kyogre Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 212 SpD Dialga in Rain: 72-85 (34.7 – 41%) — guaranteed 3HKO after Figy Berry recovery +2 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 212 SpD Dialga: 178-210 (85.9 – 101.4%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO
Incineroar @ Figy Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 236 SpD
Sassy Nature
– Flare Blitz
– Knock Off
– U-turn
– Fake Out
Incineroar is a must for double battles, and I’d say this comes to no one’s surprise. The build is quite standard, but I realised I needed to KO stuff more than to resist them, and therefore used Knock Off, putting aside Snarl. Thanks to this choice, I became stronger against opponents that liked to cycle their Pokémon around, as they were punished on the switch-in.
+2 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 236+ SpD Incineroar: 169-199 (83.6 – 98.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Knock Off
– U-turn
As Volcarona raised in popularity, Choice Scarf Landorus-T gained immense presence in the current metagame. Threatening the Volcarona-Incineroar-Koko core while avoiding Precipice Blades at the same time is valuable, and thanks to Knock Off, you could use it as an utility against Xerneas, dropping its Power Herb before it uses Geomancy. While this was basically my main answer for Xerneas/Groudon teams with Volcarona, I ended up without playing against any of them.
-1 252+ Atk Landorus-T Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 20 Def Incineroar: 258-306 (127.7 – 151.4%) — guaranteed OHKO 252+ Atk Landorus-T Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 190-225 (94 – 111.3%) — 68.8% chance to OHKO
-1 252+ Atk Landorus-T Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Solgaleo: 230-272 (94.2 – 111.4%) — 62.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Landorus-T Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 216-256 (134.1 – 159%) — guaranteed OHKO
Crobat @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Tailwind
– Super Fang
– Brave Bird
– Taunt
Crobat allowed for a second speed control mode with Tailwind rather than Trick Room. Whilist the set is pretty standard, I struggled against Amoongus, Volcarona, and Ludicolo. The team itself was strong enough to me against Xerneas, so I used Brave Bird, which seemed consistent, over Haze. This move allowed me to substantially put on more pressure on my opponents while dealing unexpected and useful damage to them. Crobat is, without a doubt, the MVP of the team.
4 Atk Crobat Brave Bird vs. 236 HP / 76 Def Amoonguss: 152-180 (69.4 – 82.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Figy Berry recovery
4 Atk Crobat Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Venusaur: 146-174 (93.5 – 111.5%) — 68.8% chance to OHKO 4 Atk Crobat Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 176-210 (109.3 – 130.4%) — guaranteed OHKO
Amoonguss @ Payapa Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 188 HP / 84 Def / 236 SpD
Sassy Nature
– Rage Powder
– Spore
– Hidden Power [Fire]
– Clear Smog
The last Pokémon on my team is Amoonguss, with the Payapa Berry equiped and HP Fire as one of its moves, which is a very common set on DialOgre teams. I thought about changing it, but I was concerned about TR mirror matches and Kartana/Xerneas, so I thought that this was the play, and it definetly proved to be the call during the tour, as I had a chance to benefit from HP Fire in the swiss rounds, which made me feel very content.
252+ Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 188 HP / 84 Def Amoonguss: 111-132 (52.1 – 61.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Kyogre Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 188 HP / 236+ SpD Amoonguss in Rain: 74-87 (34.7 – 40.8%) — guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 188 HP / 236+ SpD Amoonguss: 90-107 (42.2 – 50.2%) — 0.4% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Lunala Psyshock vs. 188 HP / 84 Def Payapa Berry Amoonguss: 84-100 (39.4 – 46.9%) — guaranteed 3HKO
Team Match-ups
These are some rough leads for the common archetypes in the metagame. However, everything should be adapted to the specific team you’re facing, so if you plan on using my team, use this match-up list as a guide rather than a 100% safe approach. If you want a pasteable version of the team, click here.
| Archetype | Always bring | Never bring | Common leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| | | + |
| Archetype | Always bring | Never bring | Common leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| | | + |
| Archetype | Always bring | Never bring | Common leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| | – | + |
| Archetype | Always bring | Never bring | Common leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| | – | + |
| Archetype | Always bring | Never bring | Common leads |
|---|---|---|---|
 | | – | |
| Archetype | Always bring | Never bring | Common leads |
|---|---|---|---|
 | | | + |
| Archetype | Always bring | Never bring | Common leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| | – | + |
| Archetype | Always bring | Never bring | Common leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| | | + / + |
The Tournament
To make things smoother for the readers, I will go straight into my Top Cut matches, as Swiss rounds were played in best of 1.
Top 16 vs 
Yunjae Jung | WW
Game 1: Xerneas/Kyogre is a pretty favorable match-up for me, but due to Gastrodon, I thought I had to win the game through Crobat rather than Dialga. Crobat fears their Tapu Koko, so I had to make good use of Landorus-T as well. Since my team looked well prepared against Xerneas, my opponent did not use it, and U-turn/Super Fang/Brave Bird with help of some Intimidate cycle was very effective against his other Pokémon and sealed the game for me.
Game 2: My opponent now realised that they had to save Gastrodon by using Protect and switching it in-and-out constantly. This was a struggle for me to handle, as Gastrodon had Fissure, too. However, as soon as I find out all the tricks they had up their sleeve, I used my two Flying-types to ignore Gastrodon and that allowed me to pick up the win.
Top 8 vs Gwanghyeok Park | WW
Game 1: Before the match, we chatted a bit and that helped both of us to relax, but he was 1st seed in swiss rounds (the only 6-0) and that definetly made me feel the pressure. XernOgre itself, as before, was alright, but the Kyogre mirror match is all about Thunder, and Raichu was a burden. To seek out for what he had on his team, I went Crobat + Landorus-T with DialOgre at the back. However, my opponent did not use Raichu at all, and the game was over by the point my onslaught of Thunder got multiple paralysis on his team.
Game 2: I went with the same lead expecting them not to use Raichu again. Although I didn’t get confirmation on it, I was fairly confident to guess that his Kyogre was trained under the Z-Psych Up set, and therefore I put DialOgre in the back again. He led XernOgre, and even though I had shown the Choice Scarf on Landorus, I had not used Knock Off yet. I went Knock Off to Xerneas on turn 1 to stop them from using Geomancy, and used Tailwind while expecting them to KO both my Pokémon, so I could fully utilise Kyogre and Dialga under Tailwind. This was a bit of gamble, as if any of their Pokémon protected, I would have been ruined. But I expected him to want to KO my Crobat-Landorus as soon as possible, and it worked out, so I was essentially put in a winning position right on turn 2.
Top 4 vs Kyung-Ho Park | LL
Game 1: I thought I had to let him set up the Trick Room because it benefitted my team, so I led with Incineroar + Kyogre. My opponent led with Tapu Koko + Lunala, so I went for Fake Out and Water Spout to clean his Koko as he went for TR. Stakataka came out, but I could not do a thing as I got critted and flinched by Rock Slide multiple times on Dialga and Landorus, and his Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom also got a critical hit on me, which essentially sealed the first game for my opponent.
Game 2: I had no plans against this specific stuff happening under Trick Room, so this time I led Crobat and Landorus to prevent it from being set up. My opponent now went Lunala + Lurantis, and although Lurantis got the free +1 boost from Intimidate thanks to Contrary, I was certain to take a boosted Leaf Blade, so I went for Knock Off and Taunt. This stopped his TR, but Leaf Blade got the critical hit once more. By the way I was feeling I thought the game was already over, so I just forfeited and left.
Conclusion
Accounting this last event, I have top cutted the 3 last Korean official tournaments. But I couldn’t have done it all by myself, as @nicky030526, who has been helping me for years, and @NashVGC, who advised me until the last second and also translated this report, have done so much and impacted hugely on my accomplishments. I would like to give, once again, huge shoutouts to them, as to other players in the tour. Lastly, thanks to you, for reading!
