Resource Good VGC Cores

Approved By: zeefable

Welcome to Good VGC Cores.

In VGC, the importance of having a good core to build a team around cannot be understated. So, on this thread, the community can submit cores that work well in the current metagame. It serves to help not only new players to understand the VGC metagame as it is right now, but also to give ideas to everyone about what cores they can work with.

Let's define what a core is:
A core usually contains two or three pokemon that work well together. In VGC, this can be achieved through being synergistic as a duo, by being able to break through opposing teams, or cover each other's weaknesses.

But when submitting a core please make sure you follow the rules below:
1. The core must include at least two pokemon with a maximum of four.
2. Include a short description of the core to make it easier to understand for someone who doesn't know how your core functions.
3. Everyone is welcome to submit a core, but to be featured on the list, the core must be tested to ensure it performs well in the current meta. You can prove this with the following method:
- Hitting at least 1500+ ELO and 65% GXE with said core on Pokemon Showdown! VGC Series 11 Ladder.
- Putting strong showings in tournaments with said core (top cut, etc.)
4. Exceptions for rule no. 3 can be given for common cores that are already prevalent in the current meta.
5. Creativity is allowed but make sure you're not using pokemon that have very small/situational niches.

Here is one example of a good post on a VGC core:
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Venusaur-Gmax @ Coba Berry
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
EVs: 132 HP / 4 Def / 156 SpA / 4 SpD / 212 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Helping Hand

Torkoal @ Charcoal
Level: 50
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Eruption
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Protect

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 4 SpA / 164 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Eerie Impulse
- Trick Room
- Recover

The Venusaur, Torkoal and Porygon2 core, commonly known as Sunroom, has consistently been one of the strongest cores in the metagame ever since Season 9 started.

Venusaur, when paired with a sun-setter such as Torkoal is able to outspeed a large majority of the metagame. On the other hand, Torkoal is one of the slowest Pokemon in the game. allowing it to perform in Trick Room as an excellent Trick Room abuser. Torkoal in Trick Room is also an excellent check to Glastrier, one of Venusaur's primary counters. This gives the team both a fast mode and a slow mode, allowing it to perform well either inside and outside of Trick Room.

With this in mind, the most common gameplan the core is able to go for is setting up residual damage with Venusaur's Gmax-Vine Lash, and then, after Trick Room is setup, clean up the game with Torkoal's sun-boosted Eruptions.
I'll start by putting some common cores into the archives. Let's get some new ones down, Happy submitting everyone!

Cores Archives

:Tornadus: + :Kyogre:
Tornadus + Kyogre

:Calyrex-Shadow: + :Thundurus:
Calyrex-Shadow + Thundurus

:Groudon: + :Venusaur-Gmax: + :Charizard-Gmax:
Groudon + Venusaur + Charizard

:Zacian-Crowned: + :Dragapult:
Zacian + Dragapult

:Zacian-Crowned: + :Lapras-Gmax:
Zacian + Lapras

:Mimikyu: + :Calyrex-Ice:/:Necrozma Dusk-Mane:
Mimikyu + Calyrex-Ice/Necrozma Dusk-Mane

:Solgaleo: + :Spectrier:
Solgaleo + Spectrier

:Palkia: + :Rotom-Heat:
Palkia + Rotom-Heat

 
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Series 10 Archive:

:Calyrex-Shadow: + :Mienshao:
Calyrex-Shadow + Mienshao
Hervalt Explanation: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/good-vgc-cores.3684842/post-8956075

:Tornadus: + :Kyogre: + :Tsareena:
Tornadus + Kyogre + Tsareena
Pixxels Explanation: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/good-vgc-cores.3684842/post-8918605

:Xerneas: + :Volcarona: + :Incineroar:
Xerneas + Volcarona + Incineroar
Pixxels Explanation: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/good-vgc-cores.3684842/post-8918768

:Calyrex-Ice: + :Lurantis: + :Oranguru:
Calyrex-Ice + Lurantis + Oranguru

:Urshifu Rapid-Strike: + :Incineroar: + :Rillaboom:
Urshifu Rapid-Strike + Incineroar + Rillaboom


Series 9 Archive:

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Venusaur-Gmax + Torkoal + Porygon2

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Celesteela + Garchomp

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Gothithelle + Regieleki

:Nihilego: + :Urshifu: + :Thundurus:
Nihilego + Urshifu + Thundurus
Evelyie's Explanation: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/good-vgc-cores.3684842/post-8865556

:Tapu Fini: + :Porygon2: + :Glastrier: + :Incineroar:
Tapu Fini + Porygon2 + Glastrier + Incineroar
microwave raccon's Explanation: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/good-vgc-cores.3684842/post-8869308

:Glastrier: + :Spectrier:
Glastrier + Spectrier
Evelyie's Explanation: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/good-vgc-cores.3684842/post-8881812
 
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Good Cores - Common Cores
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Dragapult (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- Fly
- Beat Up

Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Close Combat
- Helping Hand
- Protect
Terrakion and Dragapult synergize very well with each other. Dragapult, of course, can Beat Up Terrakion and get it to +4 easily, making it deal massive amounts of damage to the enemy team. But what makes this core special is the flexibility it has. Terrakion can carry Helping Hand to boost Dragapult's attacks when the opposing matchup isn't good for Terrakion, such as Metagross, which Max Phantasam with Helping Hand Life Orb boosted near gets the K.O and against Regigigas Weezing, you can Wyrmwind, dropping Regigigas's attack stat and making Dragapult survive even a Hailstorm or Darkness from it. This core also made some really good tournament results.



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Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Draco Meteor
- Hurricane
- Protect

Politoed @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Helping Hand
- Perish Song
- Protect
Another great core. Rain teams are really good, even with Sun in the meta. I would say Rain teams are more tough to pilot, because you need to control the weather. But, if you manage to, this core can power through your team easily. Kingdra can outspeed everything in the meta, and with Rain + Helping Hand offered by Politoed plus it's Life Orb, can shoot powerful Max Geysers, and Max Airstreams, that can break through Grass-types that threatens both Politoed and Kingdra, such as Rillaboom and Venusaur as previously mentioned.

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Regigigas @ Life Orb
Ability: Slow Start
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Giga Impact
- High Horsepower
- Ice Punch / Darkest Lariat / Thunder Punch
- Protect

Weezing @ Shuca Berry / Focus Sash
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Sludge Bomb
- Protect
What makes me nominate this core is first of all; its easiness to use. When I think about this thread, I think of newcomers researching on how to teambuild and how to play; and I think Regigigas Weezing are an excellent starting point. Both can cover each other pretty well, Weezing shutting down Pokémon such as Terrakion, Prankster Pokémon, Rain and Sun teams with its ability, physical threats with Will-O-Wisp and Trick Room with Taunt to help Regigigas, and this Regi being able to speed control with Max Strikes or completely shutting down opposing threats with its high damage.

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Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry / Safety Goggles
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Taunt
- Parting Shot
- Flare Blitz

Kartana @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 244 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Aerial Ace
- Sacred Sword

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 116 Def / 28 SpA / 4 SpD / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Protect
Be aware of this Alolan squad. What makes this core so good is: First, it closes off a Fire-Water-Grass core, and almost closes a Fantasy core with Kartana and Tapu Fini, making it super solid. Tapu Fini and Incineroar are able to help Kartana snowball with its Beast Boost ability; Incineroar can Fake Out and Taunt, meaning it can shut down Trick Room and Redirect setups, and weaken opposing physical threats. Since Kartana has heavy investment in SpD, this means Kartana might not need to worry at all regarding incoming attacks. Tapu Fini just improves this synergy, with Misty Terrain preventing Status Conditions and being able to check Fire-types with Muddy Water.

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Zapdos @ Life Orb / Safety Goggles
Ability: Static
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt / Thunder
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Protect

Grimmsnarl (M) @ Lagging Tail
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 SpD
Impish Nature
- Fake Out
- Trick
- Fake Tears
- Spirit Break
or
Grimmsnarl (M) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 SpD
Impish Nature
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Fake Tears
- Spirit Break
What makes Grimmsnarl and Zapdos so good is first the huge damage output. Life Orb boosted attacks against targets with -2 SpD is nuts. Second of all, it's the flexibility of Grimmsnarl. Grimmsnarl will always carry Fake Tears, but else that, it can perform well with both Lagging Tail sets and Screens set, both sets that Zapdos really benefits from. Other good aspect of the team is that Zapdos can play really well against both Rain and Sun teams, both of them being quite common around the meta. Zapdos's Heat Wave can also help it maul through Steel-type Pokémon that threatens Grimmsnarl, making it another good core.

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Hatterene-Gmax (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Bounce
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Dazzling Gleam
- Expanding Force
- Mystical Fire
- Trick Room

Indeedee-F (F) @ Focus Sash / Colbur Berry / Eject Button
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Follow Me
- Helping Hand
- Expanding Force
- Protect
What makes Indeedee Hatterene so good is first, the same reason as Regigigas and Weezing. This team is probably the easiest Trick Room composition to use and can teach new players about Speed Control. Second of all, this can almost guarantee Trick Room, if played correctly, and can go well with alot of good Trick Room monsters, such as Registeel and Regirock, Glastrier, Stakataka, SunRoom cores etc. Hatterene can bounce away Taunts and non-damaging attacks, this means things like Eerie Impulse or Sleep Powder won't affect it. Indeedee can set up Psychic Terrain meaning Fake Out will never work against those 2 and boosting up Hatterene's damage from Expanding Force
 
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Okay hear me out, this is still good, this can still work, and i'm gonna say it out loud: Terrapult: :terrakion: + :dragapult:

it's sogood, and might i say in my opinion it is very satisfying to see the boosts go on and on, terrapult functions as just a simple yet amazing core after all you just press beat up and then press dynamax, after that your all set, I just love this core since i used it in s9 and it's amazing, they cover weaknesses very well and are both viable dynamax pokemon that can deal very offensive pressure, dragapult also acts as a sort of bait since you don't know if it's support or offense, and that's the end of my post, hopefully it gets added

Edit: adding another core here: celesteela + grimmsnarl :celesteela: :grimmsnarl:

it's very, VERY good, celesteela is a bulky beast that can actually be pretty offensive, and grimmsnarl improves that by doing stuff like tricking a lagging tail or setting screens to make steela even more bulky, steela also has very good placements in basicaly every tour, like every tour you look at there's gonna be a steela with at least top 16, and yes the electric and fire weakness do make it weak to some of the most common mons in the meta, an assault vest and pressing the dynamax button does wonders for those small weaknesses. overall steela and grimmsnarl are toogood
 
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:ss/tyranitar: :ss/zapdos: :ss/excadrill:

Zapdos has the ability to check some of the biggest threats to Tyranitar and Excadrill being Urshifu, Venusaur, and Kartana. Zapdos can also provide speed control for Tyranitar from Max Airstream helping Tyranitar and Excadrill with their middling speed. Excadrill is able to check Nihilego, Coalossal, and Terrakion for the Rock weak Zapdos. Tyranitar is capable of activating Excadrill's sand rush allowing it to outspeed most of the metagame.Tyranitar also checks Spectrier and Dragapult two pokemon that Excadrill and Zapdos could struggle with especially when they are paired with Redirection like Follow Me and Rage Powder.

Zapdos @ Life Orb / Safety Goggles
Level: 50
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Detect

Excadrill @ Life Orb / Focus Sash / Weakness Policy
Level: 50
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature / Jolly
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide / Swords Dance
- Protect

Tyranitar @ Focus Sash
Level: 50
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Lash Out / Assurance
- Protect
- Taunt

Tyranitar @ Weakness Policy
Level: 50
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Lash Out
- Superpower
- Protect
 
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NUT Core

Aw, the NUT Core. Such a funny name, isn't it? But jokes aside, the NUT core showed to be extremely powerful through Series 7 and did appear sometimes during the early Season 9

What does NUT stands for?

N
ihilego, Urshifu-S, Thundurus
Nihilego @ Power Herb
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Meteor Beam
- Power Gem
- Sludge Bomb
- Protect

Urshifu-Gmax @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unseen Fist
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Sucker Punch
- Close Combat
- Protect
or
Urshifu-Gmax @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Sucker Punch
- Close Combat
- Poison Jab

Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb / Safety Goggles
Ability: Defiant
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wild Charge
- Fly
- Superpower
- Protect

The first reason this core is so good; it completely shuts down all of the Tier 1 Pokémon. Grimmsnarl? Nihilego takes care of that. Incineroar? Thanks for the Defiant! Tapu Fini? Max Lightning. Urshifu? Close Combat. I could keep going, but you already got it, didn't you? Let me explain each Pokémon.

1621864896658.png


Nihilego
Nihilego's main job is to maul the Fairy-types that would hit Urshifu for super-effective damage, It also deals well against Flying-types, that could Airstream and kill the Wicked Bear. Its Power Herb + Meteor Beam set allows Nihilego to set up easily while breaking through opposing threats. It also benefits from Thundurus Defiant, since it pressures things such as Snarl.
Nihilego has 5% on usage on Pikalytics. 50% of the times, it is paired with Urshifu-S and 25% of the times, with Thundurus.



1621865308293.png

Urshifu-S
Urshifu's main job is to maul the Rock-types that Thundurus struggle with, the Steel-types Nihilego struggle with, and preventing Intimidate while adding coverage. It is also Prankster immune, so sometimes can be a good help. It can run both Focus Sash and Choice Band sets. It is also a great Pokémon in general. Urshifu has a whopping 25% on Pikalytics usage. 20% of them, are paired with Thundurus.







1621865494762.png


Thundurus
Thundurus job here is to first of all, deal with Weather. Thundurus can match extremely well against Sun and Rain teams. Second of all, it scares away all Intimidates, Snarl or other types of damage-reduction. Thundurus can also check Celesteela which both Urshifu and Nihilego struggle with. Of the 12% of Thundurus usage, almost half of them are paired with Urshifu-S, and 11% of the time are paired with Nihilego.





NUT's Flexibility
NUT is also a really Flexbile core. You don't need to run all 3, you can run both Urshifu-S and Thundurus, Urshifu-S and Nihilego, well, the possibilities are endless! (actually there are only 3 possibilities with pairs), but what I mean is the 3 Pokémon doesn't need to be always together to synergize well between them.

One Top Cut + One win at Rose Tower Clash '21 (Full NUT)
Top Cut at Rose Tower Open '21 (Full NUT)
Two Top Cuts at Joe UX9 Cup (Thundurus + Urshifu)https://media.discordapp.net/attach...48480/desconhecido.jpeg?width=1083&height=609

One Top Cut at Mt. Silver Weekly RP 9 (Thundurus + Urshifu)
One Top Cut at Mt. Silver Weekly RP 4 (Nihilego + Urshifu)
 

Attachments

:ss/hydreigon: :ss/metagross:
Hydreigon covers all 4 of metagross weaknesses and metagross beats ice,fairy and dragon types due to its steel typing . So hydregion beats things like sun coal and spectrier which are some of the best checks to metagross and in return metagross beats glastrier and fairy types which trouble hydregion a lot (even something like grimmsnarl does a ton and also lowers spattack)I have been using a team with safety goggles nasty plot hydreigon and weakness policy metagross which is performing well .
 
this is TPGI, it stands for Tapu fini, Porygon2, Incineroar, Glastrier.

:tapu fini: :porygon2: :incineroar: :glastrier:

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 44 Def / 116 SpA / 20 SpD / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Protect

Incineroar @ Figy Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 148 SpD
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Taunt
- Fake Out
- Parting Shot

Glastrier @ Life Orb
Ability: Chilling Neigh
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 17 Spe
- Icicle Crash
- High Horsepower
- Heavy Slam
- Protect

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 4 SpA / 132 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Trick Room
- Tri Attack
- Eerie Impulse

What makes this core good is its sheer versatility and flexibility. P2, incin and fini alone make for a very strong defensive core, with incin being able to shut down most physical threats very quickly through intimidate cycling, and eerie impulse from P2 in combination with calm mind fini shutting down special threats. This makes the team very good at baiting and stalling out the opponent's dynamax, setting up for easy sweeps with the horse. In fact, Glastrier actually fits perfectly on such a flexible team, as being able to switch around while chipping things into range of its attacks. It even has good defensive synergy with the others, since Incineroar provides a great pivot against steel and fire types, while fini is able to cover for fighting and rock types.


:ss/incineroar:

Incineroar is just a stupid pivot, it comes in on everything, and covers both glastrier and tapu fini's weaknesses very well. Fake out helps p2 get trick room up more consistently and can help glastrier get on the field more safely with parting shot/u turn. Intimidate is almost always useful, but can be a detriment against pokemon with defiant or competitve, namely milotic and thundurus. Glastrier is able to beat Thundurus and get a nice +1 from it, and fini is able to block hypnosis from milotic and farm it for calm mind boosts.

:ss/porygon2:

P2 sets up trick room for Glastrier to sweep and for incin to cripple everything. Eerie impulse helps against special attackers that incin has a harder time with, and stops the Rotoms from using Glast as setup fodder. It also does pretty good damage on its own with either its stab tri attack or the boltbeam combination. Getting solid chip damage is incredibly useful when there is a Glastrier that gets an attack boost every time it picks up a KO, whether its putting an opposing incineroar into range of a max quake or breaking an Urshifu's sash for the lategame.

:ss/tapu fini:

Tapu Fini is a powerful late game cleaner with its signature calm mind leftovers combo and uses its fairy typing to deal with urshifu types fighting types that threaten the rest of the team. Its water typing lets it threaten rock and fire types, specifically regirock, torkoal and stakataka, which beat up on glastrier even in trick room. Fini also brings misty terrain, which benefits the rest of the team greatly. P2 becomes immune to spore from amoonguss, letting it set up and function in trick room much more effectively, Glastrier becomes immune to burns that would otherwise cripple it and Incin gets to kill Venusaur sometimes. In terms of defensive synergy with the rest of the core, Fini appreciates incineroar being able to shut down grasses like kartana and rillaboom, as well as p2 and glastrier dealing with regieleki.

:ss/glastrier:

Horse gets all its weaknesses covered by fini/incin and has trick room support from p2. Also nothing else on the team really wants to dynamax besides fini after a couple calm minds.The general flexibility of the team makes it easy for Glastrier to be conserved for a late game sweep. Glastrier's most common checks in trick room, being torkoal and the rock types, can be beaten by tapu fini after a calm mind, with p2 having the longevity to set and reverse trick room for speed control. P2 can help cripple special attackers that would otherwise threaten Glastrier, like rotom-heat, heatran and the aforementioned Torkoal.


1622162385424.png
 
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Will be doing an explanation on Garchomp + Registeel + Blastoise later.

:ss/Garchomp: + :ss/Registeel: + :ss/Blastoise:


1622165555317.png

Top 16 Victory Road Series Qualifier 4
 
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Aw, this core. Glastrier and Spectrier. What in Series 7 we thought about it just as a meme, now it's arguably one of the best synergies of the metagame. Why? I would say this core is great because they can abuse the same Pokémon immensively and can synergize quite well with theirselves.

Glastrier @ Weakness Policy / Life Orb / Lum Berry
Ability: Chilling Neigh
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Crash
- High Horsepower
- Close Combat / Heavy Slam
- Protect / Swords Dance
While running Double Horse, Glastrier's set can change a little. Some players will choose to run Swords Dance, other will run Heavy Slam, it is quite variable. But the main thing is: compared to Series 7 or Trick Room teams, Glastrier will in the majority of the time run a not-hindering Speed nature (like Adamant) and even some speed. This is because, surprisingly, some people are opting to not run Trick Room, and I will explain why later.
Spectrier @ Life Orb
Ability: Grim Neigh
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Hyper Beam
- Mud Shot
- Protect
or
Spectrier @ Focus Sash
Ability: Grim Neigh
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Snarl
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
Compared to Glastrier's one and only sweeper set, Spectrier has 2 sets, the sweeper one and a supportive one. Both are really good when paired with Glastrier, so feel free to choose for your favorite one.

Let's go through everything each horse can offer to each other, common partners, tournament results, etc.


The Synergy
1623152389002.png




Glastrier, of course, it is the snowballing beast as it always was. Super bulky, insanely strong, this is such a powerful Pokémon. Glastrier is normally the center of the core, so not much to talk about it right now. But its insane power and insane bulk allows it to maul through some Dark-type Pokémon such as Grimmsnarl and Ghost-types like Dragapult, so Spectrier can come in after Glastrier has done its sweeping and clean the rest using that STAB Shadow Ball.




1623152758213.png




Spectrier can help Glastrier alot, and I mean, alot. The offensive set helps Glastrier immensively against Incineroar, because Spectrier can not care about its Intimidates and power through them with powerful Max Quakes. Spectrier can also abuse its 150 Base Power Max Strike coming off from Hyper Beam to add Speed Control and allow Glastrier to have an easier time while on the field. If the supportive set its used, Spectrier can deny things like Will-O-Wisp with its fast Taunt, burn other threats with Will-O-Wisp like Metagross, and Snarl against special threats, like Celesteela.


And of course, like I already said in the start of the threat: Both Pokémon can abuse immensively their partners together. In my opinion, this is why Dual Horse is a great core: Together, being the best of benefiting and abusing certain Pokémon. If I could, I would suggest Dual Horse together with everything, but I'm capped to 4 Pokemon and of course, it's not always that the same Pokémon will be used 100% the time with them. With that out of the way, let's jump to:

Common Partners
1623153176067.png




I don't think I need to introduce you guys to Spectrier + Clefairy. But adding Clefairy into a Double Horse means that you will be able to redirect almost everything Glastrier and Spectrier struggles with. Thundurus's Eerie Impulse targeting Spectrier, opposing Will-O-Wisps and Parting Shot from Dragapult and Incineroar respectively targeting Glastrier, I could go on. You can also throw in to the table Clefairy's Friend Guard, boosting Glastrier's already insane bulk, and Helping Hand, just adding more damage. Both horses are arguably the best Pokémon to be paired with Clefairy given the current state of the metagame.




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Regieleki is also a great pick for both horses. Regieleki adds a more dynamic speed control, fitting perfectly with both Horses, this is so because Glastrier is too slow even with Tailwind, and Spectrier is too fast for Trick Room, making so Regieleki fits greatly into this core, and being able to deal with offensive Dragapult variations quite well, since Wyrmwind can lower Glastrier's Attack and Phantasm can just OHKO Spectrier. Regieleki also deals extremely well with Tapu Fini, a Pokemon that could take Glastrier and Spectrier hits quite well, especially when Dynamaxed.



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Even with both Max Quakes coming off from both horses, Incineroar is still a big threat. Well placed Intimidates and Snarls coming off can weaken Spectrier and Glastrier quite easily, so Urshifu-Rapid is just the perfect add for it. Surging Strikes ignoring absolutely everything damage reduction, and Urshifu being able to abuse Glastrier's ability to maul Flying- and Grass-types with STAB Max Hailstorm, Urshifu-R is a great friend.






Tournament Results

Although I have great opinions with this core, well, I am still a shit player that enjoys to write. So I better just leave off the hard work for the professionals. During the Smogon VGC Major, both horses were seen together not once, not twice, but 4 times together, placing theirselves greatly in the Top Cut. Of course, it wasn't just during the Major these guys popped off. Both Top Cut together Mt. Silver #16, Mt. Silver #4, and the Seniors Players Cup II.
 

TornOgre

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Kyogre @ Sea Incense
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Water Spout
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect


Tornadus (M) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Taunt
- Tailwind
- Icy Wind






The Kyogre, Tornadus core, commonly known as TornOgre has consistently been one of the strongest cores in the metagame ever since Series 10 started. Kyogre when paired with Tornadus can easily tear teams apart with water spout and ice beam while Tornadus supports and provides hurricane and Icy wind for additional damage. The above Kyogre set is the standard one which alot of players use. Tornadus is having Mental herb to stop opposing taunt and setup tailwind for it's partners.

Common Partners




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Regieleki adds a more speed control to the core with electroweb and can run thunder to deal insane amount of damage in the rain. It's the fastest mon in the game which can provide speed control and dish out great amount of damage and It is generally on half of the teams in the meta.


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Fake out helps Tornadus set up tailwind more consistently and Incineroar also provides intimidate , parting shot , U- turn and snarl to weaken down most of the mons in the meta to the point where you can switch in your other mons to clean up the endgame for you. Incineroar main threat this meta is Mienshao who can bring Incineroar to red health or even kill it sometimes with close combat.



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Tsareena is a great mon which can provide a lot of help to the mons in this core by queenly majesty which can completely shutdown Rillaboom and fake out users who threaten the core so much. Tsareena also threatens other mons with trop kick which can lower their attack and U-turn to cycle in and out.

Tournament Results
Here are some Tournaments result of Kyogre
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Attachments

XERNVOLC



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Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
Level: 50
EVs: 92 HP / 164 Def / 4 SpA / 12 SpD / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Dazzling Gleam
- Geomancy
- Protect

Volcarona @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 196 HP / 236 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Struggle Bug
- Rage Powder
- Protect




The Xerneas,Volcarona core, commonly known as XernVolc has consistently been one of the strongest cores in the metagame ever since Series 10 started. Xerneas has been a standard in VGC s10 because of Geomancy and Fairy aura which boost fairy moves to 1.33x power. Volcarona helps Xerneas by taking care of the steel types such as Zacian which get rid of Xerneas and provides Struggle Bug to lower Sp.Atk of opposing mons and Flame body which has 30% Burn rate to any mon that contacts it as well as Rage powder to pull of a geomancy .


Common Partners

1626443764728.png - Regieleki adds speed control to the team with electroweb and thunderbolt to get rid of water types that give trouble to Volcarona and Incineroar while also lowering speed of other mons with Electroweb to be able to be picked up by Geomancy boosted Xerneas dazzling gleam or moonblast.

1626444091099.png- Rillaboom provides fake out for xerneas to be able to pull of a geomancy and priority grassy glide to help dish out damage or U-turn to be able to pivot in and out for fake out or grassy glide to finish the endgame for you after your Xerneas has done it's part in the game.

1626444446716.png- Fake out helps Xerneas set up Geomancy. Incineroar also provides intimidate , parting shot , U- turn and snarl to weaken down the mons which give a hard time to Xerneas.


Tournament Results
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Rillaboom, Regieleki and Incineroar
VoltTurn core


If you are not sleeping under a rock over the last few weeks, this means you are quite familiar to a Regieleki, Rillaboom and Incineroar core. Although Series 10 is yet to start, memes regarding them are all over the place. But in the end: why it's so popular, and it's showing to be a consistent core untill the end of the S10?

"dude, just fucking add rillaboom, regieleki and incineroar to your team"

:incineroar: Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 236 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Snarl
- Parting Shot
- Fake Out

:rillaboom: Rillaboom @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- Fake Out
- U-turn

:regieleki:
Regieleki @ Focus Sash
Ability: Transistor
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Electroweb
- Protect

:regieleki: Why this core is so good :regieleki:
What makes this core so consistent, is first of all, the removal of Dynamax. Fake Out and pivoting moves became so much valuable, and if you look at the team, this core offers exactly that. Double Fake Out, a really fast Volt Switch and a slow Parting Shot with middle speed U-turn offered by Regieleki, Incineroar and Rillaboom respectively are great tools to control your positioning throughout the games.

:rillaboom: Countering the meta :rillaboom:
These 3 Pokémon are able to somehow deal with the majority of the meta, and are able to change their sets to make this task easier due to their flexibility. Incineroar goes well against Xerneas, using Roar to remove it and its boosts from the field, while also using Intimidate against Zacian and walling Calyrex-S. Rillaboom shuts down Kyogre even with Tsareenas all over TornOgre teams, and goes well against some recent Groudon teams. Regieleki is able to reduce every threat mentioned's Speed while also providing checks against Ho-Oh and Yveltal.

:incineroar: Common partners :incineroar:
This core is the "common partners" of every team. It's just so splashable no matter what the restricted you are using. Just see early tour results and you will realize on how this core is popular
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Battle Frontier Top Cut teams

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One of the lastest Mt. Silvers

:tsareena: Flexibility :tsareena:
Similar to Series 9 popular "NUT" Core, you don't need to run all 3 of these Pokémon to have a strong composition. You can always run just Incineroar and Regieleki, Rillaboom and Regieleki or whatever. And in some cases, this change is even preferred, being a Raichu on Regieleki's spot to pull out Electric-type moves, or Tsareena on Kyogre teams for avoiding opposing Grassy Glide. But even with that, the true "root" of the team that is positioning itself with pivot moves and Fake Out will still continue.
 

Attachments

SUNROOM





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Venusaur-Gmax @ Coba Berry
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
EVs: 140 HP / 4 Def / 156 SpA / 4 SpD / 204 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Earth Power

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Def / 140 SpA / 116 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Ice Beam
- Eerie Impulse
- Recover

Torkoal @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Heat Wave
- Eruption
- Yawn
- Protect



The sunroom core is consisted of venusaur and torkoal with a trickroom setter. It has shown great results every series.
Venusaur when under sun can outspeed most of the metagame and apply pressure with g-max vinelash or sleep powder. Torkoal can provide alot to the core by pressuring the other mons on the field with yawn or eruption under trick room. Torkoal has 0 speed ivs to go first in trick room against a glastrier allowing you to pull of a heat wave or eruption if needed. You can use many trickroom setters but porygon2 is the most used with this core for being to be able to apply pressure to landorus-t and setting up trick room for your other mons.


Common Partners


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- Grimmsnarl provides alot to this core by setting up screens and fake tears to lower the opposing mons sp.def for Venusaur or Torkoal.

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- Lando takes care of coalossal which gives a hard time to the mons in this core while also providing intimidate and can clean the endgame for you or set up swords dance to snowball your opponent.


Tournament Results
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yone

The One.
is a Tiering Contributoris a Past WCoP Champion
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https://pokepast.es/514e81b78e347834

Calyrex-Shadow @ Life Orb
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Astral Barrage
- Psyshock / Expanding Force
- Substitute
- Protect

Mienshao @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Fake Out
- Feint
- Wide Guard

What makes this core very good is the fact that Mienshao is a very good partner for Calyrex-Shadow.
Mienshao threatens the main and common threats of the current metagame to Calyrex-Shadow, like dark types like Incineroar or Urshifu-S with Close Combat which is his most powerful stab and indispensable on him, and Wide Guard users like Aegislash or Stakataka with Feint, otherwise they totally prevent Calyrex-S from attacking.
The presence of Wide Guard on Mienshao avoids losing Calyrex-S quite quickly on a Water Spout or Precipice Blades or any other attack that hits both targets, given his low defensive stats and it avoids the speed loss that Regieleki can inflict with Electroweb.
Expanding Force is an alternative to Psyshock since the core can be completed by a Psychic Terrain poser like Tapu Lele or Indeedee-F.1200px-786Tapu_Lele.pngSprite_876_♀_EB.png
They are common partners of this core with their Psychic Surge ability, in order to inflict more damage and on both targets with Expanding Force, it also allows to have the advantage of the terrain and to avoid the priority attacks of some pokemon that can be problematic like Aqua-Jet from Urshifu-R or Grassy Glide, or even Sucker Punch for some other Pokemon
This is a very common core and has been played a lot in competition, especially at the Players Cup 25th Anniversary Invitational with only a few modifications on Calyrex-S, here's Ryota Otsubo's team, the Runner-Up (with Mud Shot over Substitute)
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Attachments

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Can we remove cores? I think that LapDog kinda felt off from the end of S8, so I would assume it would just be worse from now on.
LapDog fell off but I've found a few reasons for it to rise, and it did fairly well at the recent X9 tourney.

The rise of mons such as Support Thundurus and the lasting effect of Landorus-Therian (being a duo combo that is in general fantastic against Sun) in general being a few reasons why it can be good again.
 

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