Hi guys, my name is Marco Silva (@marc0fier0VGC). I’m writing this report to showcase the team I’ve used to win the 2020 Oceania International Championships.
Teambuilding process
I built this team with Federico Camporesi. We started trying out some goodstuff cores that were popular going into the event (sand, Inteleon + support, Durant…), but we didn’t like them at all, so we decided to go with a core that we already used in the Bochum Regionals (AV Duraludon + Whimsicott + Choice Scarf Dracovish). Federico ended up winning that Regionals in the seniors division and I ended up making Top 64 in the masters division with a 6-3 record.
In that tournament we had Arcanine, Rotom-Mow and Snorlax to round up the team. After Bochum and Dallas Regionals, we noticed that these three members weren’t working as well as they did before, so we decided to keep the main core and to add three new Pokémon that were able to fix the more popular match-ups going into Oceania Internationals, like Durant, Inteleon and Charizard teams.
The Team
Duraludon @ Assault Vest
Ability: Stalwart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 156 SpA / 36 SpD / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
– Flash Cannon
– Draco Meteor
– Thunderbolt
– Body Press
Flash Cannon, Draco Meteor and Thunderbolt were pretty much a must. We decided to go with Body Press as the last move to keep dealing damages even after the Dynamax thanks to the Defense boosts. Max HP was almost mandatory to max the overall bulk. It also outspeeds Timid Vileplume by one point.
156+ SpA Duraludon Max Steelspike (130 BP) vs. -2 236 HP / 12 SpD Babiri Berry Togekiss: 190-225 (100 – 118.4%) — guaranteed OHKO 156+ SpA Duraludon Max Lightning (130 BP) vs. -1 236 HP / 12 SpD Togekiss: 190-224 (100 – 117.8%) — guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Excadrill Max Quake (130 BP) vs. +1 252 HP / 4 Def Duraludon: 270-318 (76.2 – 89.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Tailwind
– Moonblast
– Fake Tears
– Protect
The only “strange” thing about Whimsicott is Protect, which is a really good option against Fake Out + moves that KO it turn one, or just to Protect in the last Tailwind turn, being able to set it up again once it expires.
Dracovish @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Fishious Rend
– Rock Slide
– Crunch
– Dragon Rush
We previously had Psychic Fangs over Dragon Rush, but while testing for the tournament, we didn’t face as many Grimmsnarl with screens as we did in Bochum. Another option that we considered was Ice Fang instead of Dragon Rush, and it probably would have been a better pick. We decided to go with an Adamant nature because the Choice Scarf was enough to outspeed Inteleon anyway and we could hit harder in general.
Sylveon @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 100 HP / 4 Def / 156 SpA / 4 SpD / 244 Spe
Modest Nature
– Hyper Voice
– Yawn
– Quick Attack
– Protect
This Sylveon is pretty unusual. First of all it’s very fast: the speed helped a lot since I wanted to play most matches with the speed control on my side. It outspeeds Choice Scarf Adamant Galarian Darmanitan if Tailwind is up. The Quick Attack was used mainly to get some unexpected KO’s, while Yawn was useful in the Trick Room match-up or for some endgames. The spare EVs were bumped in special attack.
Rotom-Heat @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Thunderbolt
– Overheat
– Protect
– Dark Pulse
We decided to go with max HP to tank Max Rockfall from Durant when Dynamaxed. The speed was given to make Rotom faster than opposing Chandelure and Duraludon, as well as potentially going first versus other Rotom.
252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant Max Rockfall (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rotom-H: 242-286 (77 – 91%) — guaranteed 2HKO
La zio (Conkeldurr) (F) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 156 Atk / 4 Def / 76 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Protect
– Drain Punch
– Mach Punch
– Ice Punch
With 212 HP EVs, Conkeldurr gets to 207 HP, which reduces the damage from the Flame Orb burn and from sand. It outspeeds Timid Togekiss if Tailwind is up. The spare EVs were bumped in attack.
Common leads
+
The most used lead of the team, perfect to set up the field for a late-game sweep under Tailwind.
+
I used this lead a lot to catch an Excadrill + Tyranitar lead in game 2 or 3. This lead also came in play against the Bisharp + Gengar + Togekiss team.
+
This lead is specifically against Trick Room teams; the main plan is stalling out the turns of Trick Room without giving the free switch into a sweeper thanks to the defense boosts and the use of Yawn.
+
This is my standard lead against Charizard teams and Durant teams. Max Darkness on Rotom fixes the Durant match-up because, even if they catch the Fire move by switching in Chandelure, I can easily go for Max Darkness + Moonblast on the next turn.
+
I used this lead only against Inteleon stuffs. If they don’t have the Roseli Berry on Grimmsnarl, Protect with Whimsicott and Max Starfall into Grimmsnarl is very safe. If they have it, the plan is to damage the Inteleon and keep the speed control for Dracovish in the late game.
Common threats
| Pokémon | Comments |
|---|---|
| Durant brought in the late game is very scary. My main plan is to preserve the Rotom as long as I can in order to deal with the Durant when it comes out. |
   | This is, without any doubt, the worst match-up of the team. |
 | The main plan against this team is get the KO on Togekiss as soon as possible in order to clean the field with Conkeldurr. However, if they keep Togekiss healthy, it will be pretty difficult to beat. |
Conclusions and shoutouts
You can watch the finals of the 2020 Oceania International Championships here!
I had tons of fun in Australia and I’m grateful for that experience. I also had a great time, thanks to all the Italians that were there (Flagro, LeLe, Fede, Genius and Andrea). Shoutouts to:
- My family and my friends for supporting me every time.
- @FedeCampoVGC for building the team with me.
- @peppemusicco for helping me with gameplans.
- @ayyyungal for blessing me before every round.
- Il Server, the Squirrels and the Stargazers for supporting me during the whole tournament.
After this result, I’m locked for a Day 2 Worlds invite! See you guys in London!
fra
