Conquering the Earth: Ray-Ogre + Double Genie Team (VGC 2016)
![[Image: my_rayquaza_will_consider_it_by_zerudez-d83ck35.png]](http://pre04.deviantart.net/c73a/th/pre/i/2014/291/0/5/my_rayquaza_will_consider_it_by_zerudez-d83ck35.png)
Deviantart by zerudez (Marc Azria)
Hello everyone! This is Black117 here! Its been a long time since I've posted a team review or post of sorts in the forums and I've even got people asking if I've tried the format at all. Well... I was struggling dealing with some personal issues as well as considering which one of my VGC 2016 teams to have reviewed by the masses. In the end, this team has probably been the most successful "laddering-wise" however I don't know how well it will do on actual tournaments. To be frank, elements of this team have won a couple PCs like the one Jon Hu used on to win a PC in the NY/NJ area. Already people can complain about how groan about how "uncreative" the team is, however I'm only using what's been working for me with relative success and at my disposal at the moment. (Will my choice of Pokemon in my "Team Building" section). If anything, I definitely recommend any who's interested in either laddering on Showdown / Battle Spot Special or in an actual VGC 2016 tourney for help, citation, influence, whatever. So onto the team!
Background
After testing Primal Groudon + Yveltal between early to late December 2015 (might explain that team later but probably useless now), I wanted to test other cores/combinations of restricted Legendary Pokemon and support to pair them with. P-Kyogre immediately took my interest given the the influx of "special" Primal Groudons and Primal Kyogre can "wall" these special variants. Problem? Well most of my teams featuring Primal Kyogre didn't have a fail-safe option to maintain weather control and this almost made these teams predictable to maneuver against. For instance, people at this point have seen the likely standard "P-Kyogre + Trick Room User", "P-Kyogre + Role Play" options by now, however as an offensive player, I rather hit something with my powerful Water-type attacks without being inhibited by just a simple switch-in from a Primal Groudon. I know that's the point of using unheard moves like Skill Swap, Role Play, Worry Seed, Entrainment, etc and completely see how it can influence the match if timed well. In the end, I wanted something more "permanent" for my main weather control Pokemon without losing little opportunity cost in any team building aspect.
Enter Mega Rayquaza. What made me consider Mega Ray as my primary Mega of choice and even "weather-control" Pokemon is not only because of its high base 180 offensive stats, or even its ability Delta Stream to negate certain weakness, rather its first ability Air Lock. Rayquaza can switch in against a Primal Groudon with its Desolate Land up and negate all weather effects to allow Primal Kyogre to get off its high-powered Water-type attacks at the cost of losing the rain boost. To be clear, as long as a Pokemon with the ability Air Lock is in play, all weather effects are canceled meaning Desolate Land won't save Primal Groudon from a Water Spout from Primal Kyogre, reduce the damage of a Water-/Fire-type attack against the opposing team, or remove all weathers abilities like Swift Swim/Chlorophyll users. Now this doesn't mean Mega Ray is going to be pivoting in all the time as it needs to apply offensive pressure. Fortunately for this giant dragon this Mega Evolution is the only one who can hold an item at a little opportunity cost (well maybe the moveset is a bit predictable now), though I needed another Pokemon who can guard both Mega Ray, P-Kyogre, and maybe the rest of the team.
After a while, Togekiss became a strong option for this team given its unique support movepools about similar to the Clefable line. What sold me into using Togekiss for this team was two things: Serene Grace Air Slash and Delta Stream support. We all know what Serene Grace Air Slash does so lets me explain the mechanics of Delta Stream while Togekiss is in play. What's interesting about Togekiss when paired with Mega Rayquaza is the fact when Delta Stream is in play, all its part "Flying-type" weaknesses are negated (Ice, Rock, and Electric). Essentially Togekiss under Delta Stream is almost a "pure Fairy-type" with a Ground immunity so it can sponge hits like Clefable/Eviolite Clefairy. Yes there are some Poison- and Steel-type Pokemon that can pressure Togekiss, but having a way to negate these weaknesses can help Togekiss in its main job in redirecting Pokemon without losing too much HP.
Ferrothorn was added immediately afterward since the team 1) lacked a Fairy-type resist, 2) a response for opposing Primal Kyogres without risking a mirror matches, and 3) wear down Pokemon with residual damage from the combination of Iron Barbs, Rocky Helmet, and Leech Seed. This was also the team's primary response against the popular Trick Room Primal Kyogre teams as I can at least pressure it from attacking the following turns with a STAB Power Whip.
Lastly, I added the infamous yet still effective "double genie" core since I felt Delta Stream was able to mitigate their weaknesses. With Delta Stream in effect, Thundurus has "no weakness" unless my opponent reverts the weather control to their favor or does something else. Landorus-T can take an Ice Beam or HP ICe relatively well now and now resist Rock-type attacks since its a "pure Ground-type."
After using this team a bit on Showdown, I noticed this was the same exact squad featured in a top 50 VGC 206 Showdown teams from a blog post concerning their usage stats. If anything, Ray Orge + Ferrothrone / Redirection / Double Genie, or all of them encompassed some of the top 50 teams featured in Nick Walterhouse's blog, so I'll link his blog which features many high laddering teams as well. With all this in mind, I'll discuss my team:
The Team
![[Image: latest?cb=20141213165610]](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/f/f8/MRayquaza_ORAS.gif/revision/latest?cb=20141213165610)
Rayquaza-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Delta Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- Swords Dance
- Protect
Milestones:
-Standard 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe to at least speed tie with opposing Mega Ray E-Speed mirrors
-Already take a Double Edge from Mega Kang due to "natural bulk"
-At +2 attack, Mega Rayquaza can OHKO or at least heavily damage the following (note the "+" meaning a positive defense nature from the opposing Pokemon:
Everything else about this Mega Rayquaza set is largely standard except Sword Dance which at +2 can almost nuke everything that's not invested in a positive defense nature or overall bulky stuff like Cresselia/Giratina/Primal Groudon. Of course, I don't try to win games by just spamming Follow Me from Togekiss and hoping my opponent makes a fatal mistake, or fails to even 2HKO Togekiss from either two Pokemon while Dragon Ascent everything to oblivion. Likewise, Rayquaza is saved mid-to-late game to help "support" Primal Kyogre long enough to freely use Water Spouts/Scald attacks without having Primal Groudon stop the incoming attacks with Desolate Land. Keep in mind while Mega Rayquaza has similar defenses as Mega Kangaskhan, it is still a glass cannon with potential defense drops in effect and slightly more weak typing-wise. With that, Focus Sash is opt to at least help Mega Ray take one fatal move (not from Mega Kangaskhan) rather likely from a from a boosted Xerneas or Draco Meteor from an opposing Dragon-type to hopefully revenge kill. Focus Sash can ensure Mega Rayquaza could setup with Sword Dance (hopefully not take a double target) and follow up with high powered Dragon Ascents or Extreme Speed to overpower my opponent. Speaking of priority, Extreme Speed can help out-priority Sucker Punch (Kangaskhan/Mawile/Yveltal), redirection (Follow Me/Rage Powder) and/or allow for a final attack off before Mega Ray goes down.
Some might notice the lack of coverage options from this Mega Rayquaza like maybe Draco Meteor, Overheat, Earth Power, Earthquake, etc instead relying on Flying- and Normal-type. This team is revolves heavily around the damage output and getting off those Dragon Ascents onto my opponent. Sword Dance essentially allows Mega Rayquaza to threaten my opponent with overwhelm offensive pressure and can take the stress away from Primal Kyogre to hit high-powered Water Spouts. Both Togekiss and Thundurus (as I'll explain later) can allow Mega Rayquaza to with their respective support options, however there are certain situations where I predict my opponent to be "passive" like either switch out + Protect or attempt to setup as well. Finally Rayquaza (in its base form/Mega) can be switched in to allow Primal Kyogre to bypass the Desolate Land from Primal Groudon and net a kill or two with a Water Spout (provided Primal Kyogre is healthy enough). Air Lock Rayquaza can negate the use of the weather abilities in play so I can disrupt my opponent's plans by not Mega Evolving. Regardless of its role, Mega Rayquaza is what I call my "scarecrow" of this team since it can seriously pressure my opponent into the corner if played well enough.
![[Image: togekiss.gif]](http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/xy/togekiss.gif)
Togekiss @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Serene Grace
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 120 SpD / 36 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Encore / Tailwind
- Follow Me
- Protect / Thunder Wave
Milestones:
-This is John Hu's Togekiss, albeit slight speed creep against opposing ones.
-Takes a +2 Moonblast from neutral Xerneas (Not Modest).
-Can take at most two +2 Dazzling Gleam from Xerneas if it has a Sitrus Berry (but it doesn't so useless fact here)
Togekiss is here mainly to support Mega Rayquaza and Primal Kyogre with Follow Me redirection so my restricted Pokemon can fire off high powered attacks without losing too much HP from my Restricted Pokemon aside from the occasional spread attacks. Originally, this Togekiss did have Tailwind to match opposing Tailwind based teams, however the main issue is it won't be able outspeed those teams with they setup their opposing speed control. After some thought, Tailwind wasn't a great fit for this team given Thundurus's Prankster T-Wave beats out most Tailwind teams and then turned to Encore. For those who don't know, Encore locks the opposing Pokemon with the move they've just used for about 3 turns allowing for free damage or setup for my team. Encore can be quite disruptive to ensure the opposing Pokemon doesn't go for a coverage move against my own Pokemon so I essentially punish something like a Fake Out/Tailwind/Geomancy etc as the opponent switches out, or stays in as fodder. Protect was opted my original iteration of this team, then changed it to Thunder Wave after I realized random Thunder Waves with Serene Grace Air Slashes can help turn the tide of the battle in my favor. Of course, Air Slash has that nasty 60% chance to flinch the opposing Pokemon provided it is faster than the opposing Pokemon. Safety Goggles was opted for Togekiss to allow it to bypass/redirect Spores away from Amoonguss/Breloom and hopefully catch my opponent off guard with a Thunder Wave or Encore if they attempt to setup.
![[Image: kyogre-primal.gif]](http://www.pkparaiso.com/imagenes/rubi-omega-zafiro-alfa/sprites/animados/kyogre-primal.gif)
Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Water Spout
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Milestones:
-Outspeeds Smeargle by one point.
-Has a 81.3% chance to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan with Water Spout (150).
-Survives a Double Edge from Mega Salamence but not from Mega Kangaskhan.
-Relies on Intimidate drops from Landorus-T to take defensive hits.
-Probably the EV Spread wasn't thought out well... so here's a list of defensive listing from Nugget Bridge to modify for your own.
Primal Kyogre's EV spread hasn't been altered since I started testing this team though its still rather find for this team. For the time, I only concern for my Primal Kyogre is to get off full-power Water Spouts spread damage in the rain. To be honest, I don't care if Water Spout faints my opponent's Pokemon too much, rather I want to soften up the targets enough for Mega Rayquaza, Landorus-T, etc to clean up the match. The only OHKO I want Primal Kyogre to achieve is one against Primal Groudon whether its cannot switch to maintain weather control (last 2 mons), or if I switch out for Rayquaza to override Desolate Land. Water Spout is Primal Kyogre's main damaging attack and boosted by the rain this can effectively 2HKO many targets. This is assuming that Primal Kyogre can get off those high powered attacks in the first place given the power of Water Spout can decrease as Primal Kyoge's health bar is down. With that in mind, Primal Kyogre needed a reliable STAB Water-type attack in case Water Spout becomes effectively useless while not risk a miss from Origin Pulse. Well...Scald was the best option for Primal Kyogre since at least it won't miss and the 30% chance to burn is quite nice. I won't discuss the time where I let Origin Pulse be my main win conditions in 5 straight games and lose off those misses. Course somewhere along those lines, the battle shouldn't have been decided on those misses, but I learned my lesson and started using Scald on all my Kyorge sets. Ice beam fullfulls the standard Water- / Ice-type coverage on almost every Water-type Pokemon and used against part Flying-, Ground-, and Dragon-types as well as hit Primal Groudon in Desolate Land. Lastly protect is there to scout for moves or stall out temporary speed control on the field.
![[Image: ferrothorn.gif]](http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/xy/ferrothorn.gif)
Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 132 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Milestones:
-OHKOs 4 HP Primal Kyogre with Power Whip
-OHKOs up to 84 HP Xerneas with Gyro Ball
-Mega Kangaskhan loses about 58% HP if it makes contact and hits twice thanks to Rocky Helmet / Rough Skin.
-Has a 14.1% chance to take 2 full power Water Spouts from Modest Primal Kyogre in rain.
-Takes an Low Kick from Adamant max attack Mega Kangaskhan.
-+2 Dazzling Gleam from Timid 252 Xerneas has a 14.2% chance to 3HKO.
This Ferrothorn has been rather useful against beating opposing Primal Kyogres and being a huge iron thorn to my opponent that it already is. Again the moveset is standard on most Ferrothorn sets as it there to mostly hit STAB Gyro Ball attacks against Fairy-types and STAB Power Whips against common Water-types. Power Whip is incredibly strong and can OHKO 4 HP offensive variant Primal Kyogre variants relatively easy...provided they hit. Gyro Ball can hit most fast targets with an actual speed stat of 132+ with STAB 150 damage like Xerneas, Mega Rayquaza, Salamence, Kyurem-W, Mega Kangaskhan Mega Gengar, etc. Leech Seed is two sap out 1/8th of the opposing mon's HP and replenish its HP ever turn. Ferrothorn can be a win condition if its HP bar is high enough to carry the game with the combination of Leech Seed recovery, protect, residual damage from Rocky Helmet / Rough Skin, and strong STAB options. This can pair well with Primordial Sea from Primal Kyogre as Ferrothorn receives a pseudo-immunity to Fire-type attacks except from Cloud Nine / Air Lock users. Rocky Helmet is tandem with Ferrothorn's Iron Barbs ability can punish Fake Out on the switch (Have to predict this correctly), and other physical attackers. One last thing to note is Ferrothron's Item can help it win against non-Rocky Helmet Ferrothorn mirror matches if the battle comes down to a Ferro V Ferro endgame.
![[Image: landorus-therian.gif]](http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/xy/landorus-therian.gif)
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 44 Atk / 4 Def / 44 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Explosion
Milestones:
-EV Spread from Majorbowman's and Braverius's Landorus-T set (from a Different Meta I KNOW)
-Outspeed Primals and base 90s
-Can take a +2 Dazzling Gleam from 252 Timid Xerneas.
-Can take a +1 Sucker Punch from LO Bisharp.
-Can take an HP Ice from 252 Thundurus (without Item or Nasty Plot). Of course Delta Stream can mitigate the Ice weakness.
-OHKOS 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan with Superpowers and 2HKOs it with Banded EQ.
The main star of this team in my opinion. Yes I know that the EV spread is might seem irrelevant in a completely new format but Banded Landorus-T has done most heavy lifting. The spread itself does sacrifice a ton of attack EVs, however this Landorus-T can take a +2 Dazzling Gleam from Xerneas while still do enough damage to the opposition with the appropriate move. Even with 44 Atk EVs, a Banded Superpower can net the OHKO on Mega Kangaskhan, as well as severely damage HP 252 Dialga (or OHKO if just the 4 HP variant). Banded Earthquake from this Landorus-T set is strong enough to 2HKO (well 99.6% of the time) 4 HP Kangaskhan, heavily damage the Primals, Xerneas, and any other 'grounded' targets. To be fair, this Landorus-T set isn't meant to OHKO things, rather inflict as much chip damage as possible from my Mega Rayquaza, Primal Kyogre, and other teammates to carry the game. Rock Slide on Landorus-T is mainly for Flying-type Pokemon such as Talonflame, Ho-oh, Mega Salamence, Mega Rayquaza, and opposing Double Genie mirrors with the added bonus flinching my opponent's slower mons. Finally I get to my favorite move on this team: Explosion. I've notice several notable players like Aaron Zheng use this tactic against most teams with redirection support or leads with considerably low defensive stats. The high risk-high reward is to do as much damage to the opposing team (hopefully OHKO) to where Mega Rayquaza can snipe them out with +2 Extreme Speed priority or for my other mons (likely Primal Kyogre/Thundurus/Ferrothorn) to KO the weaken targets. Of course all my opponent has to do is protect against this potential tactic however only consider this option if the opponent is likely going to attack, or if it a hail mary play.
![[Image: thundurus.gif]](http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/xy/thundurus.gif)
Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Sky Drop / Taunt / Swagger
- Thunder Wave
- Protect
Milestones:
-Has a 6.3% chance +2 Dazzling Gleam from Geomancy-boosted from 252 SpA Timid Xerneas.
-Outspeeds base 108 Pokemon with speed investment including base 90s and 100s.
-Has a 5.9% chance to live a Double Edge from Mega Kangaskhan (bar Crit). Can be mitigated with Intimidate drop.
-List of Pokemon "immune" to Sky Drop.
-Flying-type Pokemon are immune to damage, but are still "picked up" by Sky Drop. Either way, Thunderbolt can dent them.
Honestly the best support Pokemon on this team IMO. Occasionally I might lead with Togekiss + Rayquaza, but chances this team will go for an immediate Double Genie lead with Thundurus on point. The speed investment is probably the most interesting part of this Thundurus set since I wanted to be able to outspeed certain Pokemon like Mega Kangaskhan, Mienshao, Infernape, Liepard, Meowstic, and most importantly speed creep opposing Thundurus to the point I can tell if its likely max speed or not. Thundurus's "bulk" (well physical bulk) relies heavily on Landorus-T's Intimidate drops to ensure it can take a Double Edge from Kangaskhan or Mence better. Thunderbolt and Thunder Wave are self-explanatory on a support Thundurus set since I need a reliable STAB and a way to neuter Xerneas speed boost from Geomancy (or anything else) so Mega Rayquaza and Kyogre can outspeed. Now my second slot for Thundurus was changes multiple times from Taunt, Swagger, Grass Knot, Foul Play, etc. After about 30+ games on Battle Spot Special, I tried out Sky Drop, and I definitely realize why people use this support attack. Essentially Sky Drop is almost like a "free protect", though Thundurus can pick up any Pokemon (not from the list) and remove them from play. The best part is if a Pokemon with redirection (Clefairy, Amoonguss, Togekiss) uses Rage Powder/Follow Me to protect their Pokemon, Thundurus will immediately pick up that target while my other Pokemon can easily target into the opposing target the redirection user is trying to protect. Sky Drop can allow Mega Rayquaza to setup a +2 Sword Dance as the target is up in the air, and then proceed to OHKO it with a Dragon Ascent. In all, Thundurus has been an important glue to this team which definitely proved itself as a disrupting Pokemon. Lastly, Protect is there to scout, or just protect Thundurus from an incoming Explosion from my Landorus-T...:]
Common Leads
Though I often differentiate my lead options as best I can to the matchup, here are my common leads I've noted from using this team.
Double Genie (Thundurus + Landorus-T): To this day, I feel Double Genie is still a great lead option against most VGC 2016 teams given either they have a Smeargle, Xerneas, Kangaskhan, Mence, etc (pretty much referring to "big six"). The goal of this lead is to have Landorus-T spread Indimidate drop against any physical attackers meanwhile Thundurus can hit STAB Thunderbolts, spread paralysis, or Sky Drop stuff. If my opponent leads with Kangaskhan, about 80% of the time I let Thundurus protect itself from an incoming Fake Out, or attempt to get off damage or paralysis onto something. Landorus-T is mostly task to dealing as much damage with its Choice Band attacks as it can OHKO the standard 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan immediately or repeated launch Banded Earthquakes for valuable chip damage for my restricted Pokemon. My answer to "Big Six" leads like Xerneas + Smeargle / Salamence + Talonflame. If my opponent leads with Talonflame + Mence, well I get off an Intimidate drop against both potential physical attackers and can threaten them with Rock Slides, Thunderbolt, and Thunder Wave which both part Flying-type don't appreciate well. If my opponent leads with Xerneas + Smeargle (non-Choice Scarf), my best option against this lead is to attempt to paralyze Xerneas with Thundurus and have Landorus-T. Most of the time, Xerneas won't be able faint both these Pokemon with a Geomancy boosted Dazzling Gleam unless of course it either gets a max roll on Thundurus, crits both my Pokemon, or is a positive special attack nature (Modest).
For the sake of the team, I rarely save Thundurus at all, and maybe Landorus-T only if the rest of the opposing team has "grounded" Pokemon without no Wide Guard support. One last note regarding the Landorus-T, I have to be careful against playing against Wide Guard and there have been games where I foolishly Earthquake, Rock Slide, or Explode onto one. Smeargle with Wide Guard is the most threatening to this team IMO since I might go for protect on Thundurus turn 1 to block the potential Fake Out, but only to see Wide Guard as my opponent goes for an attack or setups.
Offensive Intimidate Support Lead (Landorus-T + Primal Kyogre / Mega Rayquaza): Landorus-T is my main lead for this team given its ability to Intimidate physical attackers so Primal Kyogre or Mega Rayquaza can take physical hits better without investment. Primal Kyogre is only a potential lead for this team if in case my opponent doesn't have either Zekrom, Primal Groudon, Foul Play spam (Yveltal + Liepard), or Mega Rayquaza. Mega Rayquaza will lead with Landorus-T to apply immediate pressure with Banded Earthquake + Dragon Ascent combination and can net quick knock outs. Obviously I won't Earthquake into my own Primal Kyogre so Landorus-T will likely switch out for something like Ferrothorn, Togekiss, or even Rayquaza.
Delta Stream Redirection (Mega Rayquaza + Togekiss): Remember what I said earlier about Togekiss essentially being a a "pure Fairy-type" with a Ground immunity thanks to the effects of Delta Stream? Well this lead option is an option if my opponent doesn't have a Primal or a Cloud Nine/Air Lock user to remove Delta Stream. The goal of leading with Mega Rayquaza and Togekiss is to attempt to get at least one Sword Dance boost (maybe two if my opponent cannot 4HKO Togekiss) and hopefully proceed to sweep the team. If my opponent leads with a Fake Out user, Togekiss can Encore the Pokemon into Fake Out (or maybe another support option) as Mega Rayquaza protects to gets its full 115 speed. If Togekiss can let Mega Rayquaza get off its Sword Dance, I'll occasionally let it faint in an attempt to lock a Pokemon into an undesired move with Encore or paralyze something. One last thing about this lead is if my opponent tries the same Explosion tactic against me so I'd probably protect Mega Ray, and switch Togekiss out to Ferrothorn/Landorus-T to take the hit.
Ray Orge "Weather Control" (Mega Rayquaza / Primal Kyogre): Finally we get to the most offensive pair of this team: Ray-Orge. This core can block out all effects of weather at the cost of Primal Kyogre's losing the rain boost to hit opposing Primal Groudon for an OHKO. Personally I think its a neat trade off in order to faint one of the most common restricted Pokemon in the format and maintain my own weather for the rest of the match to support my team. Often I save these two till the mid-to-late game to clean up the opposing team with their respective powerful STAB attacks. If I every lead with these two, it usually to stop opposing room from being setup with a Water Spout + Dragon Ascent though it depends on the EV's and item of the Trick Room Pokemon.
Problems/Issues
Geomancy Xerneas: If you noticed, there isn't a way for this team to clearly beat a Geomancy-boosted Xerneas aside from Ferrothorn or a Thunder Wave from Thundurus. Whenever I battle Xerneas (especially with Smeargle), I lead with Double Genie to force my opponent to protect into one of their Pokemon and start double targeting something with Thunderbolt + EQ. In this matchup, I absolutely CANNOT use Thunder Wave against a Xerneas / Smeargle lead as Smeargle can just Fake Out Thundurus, or use Follow Me to redirect the Thunder Wave away as Xerneas goes for Geomancy. To make matters worse, I have usually prioritize in taking out the Smeargle first because of the threat of Dark Void will leave my team so far behind the match with free turns for my opponent and lose as a result.
Unfortunately, Banded Earthquake is a 3HKO on Xerneas as I have to get off enough damage to where Mega Rayquaza can OHKO it with an Extreme Speed (if Thunder Wave isn't applied on time). If I want to, Banded Explosion is an option to consider if my opponent leads with anything other than Smeargle. Encore Togekiss can lock Xerneas into Geomancy for three turns as my opponent must either switch out, or sack Xerneas. If Encore is about to end, Thunder Wave +Air Slash can lock down Xerneas, however its not reliable. If anything, Ferrothorn automatically comes in this matchup if my opponent doesn't have a double Fire-type team (Talonflame + Primal Groudon) and can OHKO offensive variants with Gyro Ball.
Trick Room: My best response for opposing Trick Room teams is to prevent Trick Room from being setup with a Dragon Ascent + Water Spout combination, Thundurus's Sky Drop to delay it, or Air Slashes from Togekiss. The Pokemon to handle Trick Room is the combination of either Togekiss, Ferrothorn, or Thundurus (pick 2 of the three which matches well) with my Ray-Orge, but with Primal Kyogre being my win con. Ferrothorn is brought against this matchup especially if they have a Primal Kyogre of their own as I can at least threaten it with a STAB Power Whip. Togekiss can use Serene Grace Air Slashes to give me a 60% chance to ensure Trick Room isn't setup provided the move can hit (95% accuracy can be a pain sometimes). If Trick Room is setup, this team is forced to stall out the turns of Trick Room as possible, otherwise it can get swept easily. Primal Groudon with Gravity + Helping Hand Cresselia sweep this team by themselves so I might have to make those Air Lock / Delta Stream - Scald plays to knock out the Fire- / Groudon-type.
Mirror Matches (Ray-Ogre): My best way to beat these two is to have both Landorus-T and Thundurus wear them down enough so my own Ray-Orge core can beat them. Not the best strategy, however if Thundurus can get off some Thunder Wave paralysis against my opponent at least the threat of speed ties are gone. Landorus-T can go for the Banded Explosion to deal as much damage as possible against opposing Ray-Orge, though the chance of OHKOing is a roll. Ferrothorn can help with this matchup if I can attack onto Mega Rayquaza with a Gyro Ball or threaten the Primal Kyogre. Essentially, best way to beat Primal Kyogre + Mega Ray is to weaken them enough so my other two with my support mons so that my other own Ray-Orge core beats them. Kinda like taking a page off of VGC 2015 with the double genie / chalk mirrors but that's what players have to do to win.
Choice Scarf Smeargle with Dark Void + Quick Guard: This is an auto-loss for this team as I cannot stop an Incoming Dark Void from Choice Scarf Smeargle with my priority attacks being neutered from Quick Guard protection. The only hope for a victory against this team matchup is if my opponent messes up, Dark Void misses on one of my Pokemon, or if my Pokemon wake up.
Kyurem-W: This restricted legend has a field day against my team. There is no possible option in which I see myself fainting a Kyurem-W without losing a Pokemon to this ice dragon. Let me describe how grim this situation is for me, Kyurem-W has a base special attack of 170, can hold any item it wants, and has STAB Ice Beam / Blizzard to hit my entire team par Primal Kyogre neutral coverage. The best case scenario is to let Togekiss take the hits (with Delta Stream up hopefully) and let Mega Rayquaza knock it out with the combination of Dragon Ascent + Extreme Speed. Ferrothorn can OHKO Kyurem-W with Gyro Ball but fears a base 100 Fusion Flare Fire-type attack which can OHKO Ferrothorn as well. In all, Kyurem-W is a Pokemon I need to trend carefully otherwise it can 4-0 this team like it done so before.
Ferrothorn: If Mega Rayquaza, Landorus-T, and Togekiss are out of the picture, I auto-lose to Ferrothorn especially if its the Leech Seed variant. Opposing Ferrothorn aren't too much of a concern in the early game if my opponent leads with it, however the better players I noticed tend to leave out their Ferrothorns in the late game once Primal Kyogre is vulnerable to a STAB Power Whip. Depending on the spread, a +2 Dragon Ascent from Mega Rayquaza should either OHKO, or leave Ferrothorn at about 1-14% HP. Funny enough, Encore Togekiss is my favorite way to beat Ferrothorn since I can lock them into one of its moves and force my opponent to switch out. If Ferrothorn is locked into Power Whip, all my Flying-type Pokemon and even my own Ferrothorn take the hits well. If Ferrothorn is locked into Gyro Ball, Primal Kyogre has no worries to fear a potential Power Whip for three extra turns. Banded Landorus-T can Intimdate Ferrothorn and use Superpower to get about less than 25% HP and vulnerable to further hits. Finally, Thundurus can just Sky Drop Ferrothorn while Mega Rayquaza setups or hits something else with a Dragon Ascent.
Thundurus/Zapdos: For some reason I can handle opposing Ray-Orge cores with some issues here and there, though struggle against either these two Electric-/Flying type Pokemon. Thundurus is the easier one to manage of the two since it doesn't have instant recovery apart from Sitrus Berry recovery but Roost. Again these two are rather annoying, but beatable if I don't let Mega Ray setup Delta Stream.
Zekrom or Kyurem-B: While I've yet to battle a Kyurem-B, both it and Zekrom can potentially beat out my Ray-Orge core as well as most of my team. Landorus-T is my only answer for Zekrom since it can hit the Electric- / Dragon-type with a STAB EQ. Otherwise, Zekrom has no reason to fear this team as Mega Ray doesn't have Draco Meteor, and Primal Kyogre can't take a Bolt Strike / Fusion Bolt at all. Kyurem-B falls in the same category with Kyurem-W, however, this Pokemon has a great matchup against everything on this team with Draco Meteor, Ice Beam, and Fusion Bolt to hit all for super-effective damage. Kyurem-W is only slightly worse since it has a great special attacking movepool and 170 special attack to abuse compared with 120 from Kyurem-B. If anything, Ferrothorn can wall Kyurem-B, bar HP Fire variants which thankfully I've yet to see.
Proof of Record & Peaks
From Omega Ruby Cartridge:
![[Image: Ca1cvrrUkAAaHIA.jpg]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ca1cvrrUkAAaHIA.jpg)
From Pokemon Global Link (Wanted to show the time of day taken as well):
IMPORTABLE & Final thoughts
Feel free to use this team if anyone likes to do so. Currently I'm going to work on both managing a separate GBA style league and set suggestions for the restricted legendary Pokemon for this site so I won't be doing actual battling in the short term. I'll consider all constructive feedback based on this team alone and questions regarding how I handle certain matchups (long as its viable). Thanks for reading and again use this team if anyone likes to.
and Protect/Tailwind/Helping Hand/T-wave/Safeguard/Reflect)
