Team for Nonstandard Competition (Help Needed)

I am not sure if this is the right place to post this (if not - can the moderators please move to the correct channel TYVM).

Otafest Pokemon League
Each year at my local Anime Convention, we host a grueling in-person Pokemon League. Prizes, including physical laser-cut badges are awarded to participants. However, the competition is fierce, with an average of 3-8 players (out of some 250+) successfully defeating the champion each year. I myself have successfully achieved this goal 3 out of 7 attempts. This year, I am going for a hat-trick (being the first person to defeat the champion in 3 years back-to-back).

However, this competition uses a non-standard ruleset for the competition (as follows):

Otafest Ruleset (2023)
1)
No Life Orb/Choice Items
2) No Legendary/Mythical Pokemon
3) No Duplicate items/Pokemon
4) Only 1 Paradox Pokemon per team
5) No deliberate stalling (inc. toxic stall). Such moves are legal, however they should not be the primary win-con of any pokemon.
6) The only banned move is Last Respects
7)
Only 2 attempts per Gym/Elite 4/Champion.
8) Scarlet / Violet (will include any legal pokemon transferred from Pokemon Home if the update occurs prior to the event).

Scheduled for May 19-21 2023

The competition is divided as follows:

3v3 Gyms (8): 3v3 battles vs. monotype or monotheme teams (eg. Eevee, Cats, etc). Unsure how Tera Type will affect this year's team composition. I suspect gym leaders will be allowed 1 pokemon outside the theme as long as it's tera type matches their monotype. Alternately, gym leaders may be allowed to have tera types outside their monotype. Both may be possible to encounter.

Gym leaders have competitive monotype teams historically (with the competition announcing their type/theme in the last few weeks leading up to the event).

Double Battle Gym: Special 4-player gym (2 participants vs. 2 gym leaders). 4v4. Special gym has additional rules which vary from year to year. Examples include: No Super-effective moves, no status conditions, no non-damaging moves, etc. Special rules can be ignored, but if followed award physical prizes (with max prize usually being in the $80-100 range).

Elite 4: 4v4 battles vs. monotype/monotheme teams. Unlike Gym Leaders (who sometimes take it easy on casual/young players) - Elite 4 are designed to curb-stomp the opponent with fully trained, competitive teams (often using Ubers, Ranked Battle, and VGC inspired movesets, but ignoring move banlists).

Champion: 6v6 battle vs. extremely competitive Ubers/Ranked Battle inspired teams and movesets, but ignoring the Smogon Banlist when it comes to move legality.

The tournament is a gauntlet, with each team being required to handle all of the above - and scrubbing out of the tournament can sometimes happen at the Gym, Elite 4, and especially the Champion level. (Failing to defeat a Gym Leader bars you from challenging the Elite 4 but usually still earns you the Gym's respective badge).
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OTAFEST TEAM [WIP]
With the rules out of the way, here is the team I am working on for this year's competition. I would greatly appreciate any help in finalizing this team I have done a lot of testing/theory crafting using Damage Calculator, as well as Ranked Battle. However, Ranked Battle does not provide an accurate reflection of this team's ability, due to the presence of Choice Items, Life Orb, Legendary/Mythical Pokemon, and the ability to have multiple Paradox mons on a team (even despite these caveats, it has performed strongly on Ranked Battle).

All suggestions are welcome (including alternative pokemon choices, movesets, etc).

Playstyle: I typically prefer Bulky Offense supported by 1-2 Revenge Killers/Setup Sweepers/Hyper Offense pokemon. I rarely use weather or entry hazards, but am not opposed to them if I can find room on a moveset. Pure Stall pokemon are disallowed, but things like Toxic/Salt Cure can be used for additional chip damage.

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Slow Bulky Offense: This team is comparatively slow, but this is not as large a detriment as normal given how bulky and slow the meta is overall. However, due to the team's slower speed, and the unique format of this tournament - I am uncertain how reliable the use of Indeedee as speed control will be in the format, as there will likely be many battles it will need to be sidelined, for sake of consistency. I have observed this also on Ranked Battles during testing.


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Iron Hands @ Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpD / 4 HP
Tera: Flying
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Wild Charge
- Drain Punch
- Earthquake

Lead/Anti-Paradox:
Iron Hands is my team Paradox member, and an excellent check/counter to most of the top-20 pokemon used on Ranked Battles. This particular set also matches up well against most of the other paradox pokemon, being able to safely switch in on the likes of Iron Bundle, or Palafin-Hero, and OHKO both in return. It is also a good lead against opposing Flutter Mane, Roaring Moon, and many other pokemon. Tera Flying turns weaknesses into resists, while also being an excellent option to counter opposing Dondozo or Garganacl running Fissure. Tera Flying is my default Tera on this team (with Iron Hands, Garganacl, and Dondozo each running this Tera for different matchups).

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Dondozo @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 Def
Tera: Flying
Impish Nature
- Fissure
- Avalanche
- Rest
- Wave Crash / Liquidation

Anti-Wall / OHKO:
This particular set is designed to be an answer to opposing Dondozo, Garganacl, and other physical/special walls. Covert Cloak is chosen to negate weakness to Salt Cure, Flinch, and other secondary effects - while Tera Flying negates opposing Fissure Dondozo/Garganacl while also eliminating the team's 3x Weakness to Grass. Fissure is the primary kill-con with this pokemon, with Wave Crash being the secondary attack. As Dondozo will usually move second, Avalanche boosts to a deadly 120 Power and is chosen over other coverage options as an answer to opposing Flying Dondozo/Garganacl, and against Flying and Dragon types in general.

Dondozo is the team's primary Physical Wall and forms three separate cores on this team: Don/Bliss; Don/Knight; and Don/Nacl. While riskier, I am leaning toward Wave Crash over Liquidation to help punch through opposing walls slightly easier, however doing so will require using Rest with greater frequency. Dondozo serves as the team's primary answer to opposing Gholdengo, dealing 44.4-52.4% damage with Wave Crash, or threatening OHKOs with Fissure. In return, Gholdengo's Shadow Ball is it's best response, dealing 30.7-36.5% damage. Should Gholdengo run Flying Tera in order to dodge Earthquake/Fissure, Dondozo can deliver a deadly Avalanche dealing 59.2-70.3% damage, forcing a switch. Dondozo also walls enemy Palafin-Hero, whose best move is a 13.6-16.3% damage Drain Punch. Iron Bundle is still a serious threat to this pokemon, threatening a 2HKO with Freeze-Dry even with 252 SpD investment.

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Garganacl @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def
Tera: Flying
Impish Nature
- Salt Cure
- Fissure
- Recover
- Protect

Mixed Wall; Steel/Water Killer:
Garganacl is the most passive pokemon on this team, relying primarily on dealing significant chip-damage to opposing water and steel-type pokemon, while fishing for OHKOs with Fissure. This particular set is an excellent check to enemy Gholdengo, and makes liberal use of Protect/Recover when Fissure isn't an option. This pokemon serves as the team's tertiary Flying-Tera pokemon, as a backup when Dondozo/Iron Hands has been defeated, or in matchups where Dondozo is unfavored. Garganacl serves similar duty on this team to Dondozo, acting as backup to the Fissure win-con strategy, while also bringing some much needed chip-damage to the team.

Garganacl pairs well with Dondozo; Blissey; and Corviknight and can pair with any/all of them depending on matchup. However, as Iron Hands is the team's primary method of dealing with certain threats, I can rarely use all 4 members of the core at the same time (save during the Champion final match).


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Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Mirror Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 HP
Tera: Steel
Careful Nature
- Body Press
- Brave Bird
- Iron Defense
- Roost

Bulky Pivot:
Corviknight serves as a bulky pivot and answer to Kingambit. While it checks Fissure Dondozo and Garganacl, it can't do much to stop them outside of relying on Rocky Helmet chip damage. It also serves as part of the Bliss/Knight core and pairs well with dondozo and/or garganacl. I don't really have much else to say that isn't obvious with this inclusion.


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Blissey @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Def / 4 HP
Tera: Ghost
Calm Nature
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled

Setup Sweeper / Special Wall:
Blissey serves as the team's primary setup Sweeper, and late-game cleaner. Ideally, Blissey will come in once opposing physical threats have been cleared - however it also forms a solid Bliss/Knight and Don/Bliss Core, while also strongly supporting Garganacl. Blissey also serves as the team's secondary answer to opposing Gholdengo. Modest Tera-Steel Gholdengo w/ 252 SpA using a super-effective Make it Rain deals 32.7-38.7% damage with it's first hit, making it a 3HKO+. This allows me to freely setup on said Gholdengo, or threaten a switch with an unboosted Flamethrower dealing 25.9-30.8% damage against most Gholdego. This rises to a more respectable 38.2-45.6% damage after 1 Calm Mind, and a threatening 50.6-60.4% at +2. This set fairs slightly less favorably against the less common Assault-Vest Gholdengo, but still has the edge even in this matchup. Gholdengo running Calm Mind however, can be a threat better answered by Fissure Dondozo which completely walls all forms of Gholdengo.

While Tera-Fire would improve Blissey's matchup vs. opposing Steel types, it runs the risk of introducing a 3x weakness to Ground to this team, which I do not feel comfortable with. As such, I have opted for Tera-Ghost as an alternative. Not only does this grant Blissey STAB-Shadow Ball, but it also eliminates the threat of the ever present physical attacks: Drain Punch, Close Combat, Extreme Speed, and Body Press. This in turn allows Blissey to completely wall most Dragonite, Corviknight and Garganacl movesets, and many Dondozo sets as well.

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Indeedee-F @ Focus Sash / Terrain Extender
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpD / 252 SpA / 4 HP
Tera: Ghost
Calm Nature
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Healing Wish
- Shadow Ball

Trick Room Lead:
Indeedee serves as an alternative lead or mid-game Trick Room/Psychic Terrain setter. Currently I have Focus Sash on my set in order to maximize the chance of getting off Trick Room, however as this team performs well even without the use of TR - I may change this to Terrain Extender. As a Normal/Psychic Type, Indeedee has a good immunity to Ghost, giving a free switch in against an expected Shadow Ball from Gholdengo/Flutter Mane, or other popular Shadow Ball users. Should it get off TR, it can then pivot mid-game, healing up an incoming Garganacl, Dondozo, or Blissey.

Overall, Indeedee does not provide much offensive pressure for this team - and is included primarily as a defensive option, in order to severely hamper enemy priority, while also providing speed control in the form of TR. While it will be rare for Indeedee to use Tera, Tera-Ghost is provided to provide an option to hamper Tera-Normal Dragonite sets - however Blissey does this better. As such, Indeedee is fire-and-forget, and is an easy sacrifice to pivot to a more desirable switch-in.
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Last edited:
This team is good. But there is tons of room for improvement. I don't know much about your competition, but what I do know is that fissure is an extremely unviable pick. And your EVs will definitely need adjusting.

Major Changes:

:corviknight: -> :kingambit:
While Corv is said to be serving as a pivot, I think that an excellent endgame cleaner will benefit you more:
Kingambit @ Black Glasses
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Level: 50
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Kowtow Cleave

:blissey: -> :volcarona: or :chansey:
Blissey is a great wall however I think that you could be benefitted greatly by using this set of Volcarona.
Volcarona @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 50
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 248 HP / 108 Def / 152 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Morning Sun
- Giga Drain
However if this isn't your style you could go for Eviolite Chansey:
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Chilling Water
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave
However this may not be the best for how you want to play.

:Indeedee-f: -> :indeedee:
Indeedee @ Terrain Extender/Throat Spray
Ability: Psychic Surge
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Healing Wish
Minor Changes:
Mostly just EVs, movesets, and held items.l for your team as it is:

:sv/iron-hands:
Iron Hands @ Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Tera: Flying
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Wild Charge
- Drain Punch
- Earthquake

:sv/dondozo:
Dondozo @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Tera: Flying
Impish Nature
- Sleep Talk
- Avalanche
- Rest
- Wave Crash / Liquidation

:sv/garganacl:
Garganacl @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Tera: Water
Careful Nature
- Salt Cure
- Curse
- Recover
- Protect

:sv/corviknight:
Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def /
Tera: Steel
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Roost

:sv/blissey:
Blissey @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Tera: Ghost
Bold Nature
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled

:sv/indeedee-f:
Indeedee-F @ Focus Sash / Terrain Extender
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Tera: Ghost
Timid Nature
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Healing Wish
- Shadow Ball
 
Thanks for that analysis. I’ll run your suggestions through damage calculator against expected matchups and see how it goes. Most appreciated.
 

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