Ultra Final started off as a passing thought for me, but I realized that I wanted to play in it after noticing that my Online Competition record for Gen 7 was practically nonexistent (outside of an International Challenge in Sun/Moon). That and I got to use all my favorite mons. Most importantly though, my last few VGC events haven’t gone well so I really wanted to score something big Pokemon-wise to help me feel a bit better about myself. Later I realized that it may be the last time I get to play with the whole gang for many years, and I was really glad that I entered.
This team got 34 Wins and 7 losses with a rating of 1854, hopefully putting me within the Top 5. While I could have pushed myself more with my remaining 4 matches, ladder anxiety unfortunately got the best of me and I wasn’t able to shake it off before the event ended. Nevertheless, I am satisfied with my score.
https://pokepast.es/c1a87df7368b255e
I came in this tournament with a relatively blank state. I did not read up on the potential metagame trends and I had no AG experience. What I did have experience in, however, is playing a lot of Battle Spot Free in my spare time using a similar squad (Life Orb Ray, Scarf Xerneas, Marshadow over some of these mons), so this team was very largely based off that. There are definitely a number of things I would fix if I were to re-enter the tour, but for the most part the team’s backbone is solid.
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アルセウス (Arceus-Fairy) @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 196 HP / 248 Def / 64 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Toxic
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
MVP. Or at least, I was too reliant on it. Arceus-Fairy got brought the most, dealing with Yveltal, Ray, other support Arceus, Marshadow, and crippling Necrozma-DMs. I’m not sure if Bold or Timid would have been best here, but Bold’s extra defense was incredibly clutch for taking boosted Dragon Ascents and Photon Geysers. The EVs allow it to survive +1 Life Orb Jolly Rayquaza Dragon Ascent / +2 Ray DA, both after SR. The speed enables it to outrun Adamant Mimikyu.
アルセウス (Arceus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 2 SpA
- Extreme Speed
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Shadow Claw
In contrast with the other Arceus, this one is definitely my LVP and would see the most changes. Normalium Z would have been nice to give the team a stronger wallbreaker. But it could have also just been another Arceus forme that could set up Stealth Rock more reliably than Groudon would. Or it could have been Steel Arceus to break the combination of Yveltal/Necrozma/Arceus-Fairy which was fairly rampant throughout the competition. It could've also been a Mega Gengar, which I felt was very underrated coming into this tournament.
Rayquaza @ Focus Sash
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
Ray was very....okay. SR Arceus leads were common so Focus Sash wasn’t as helpful as I would like it to be. What should have probably been in this slot is a very bulky Berry Dragon Dance Ray instead of a fragile one. Still took over games with its insane stats but expected a bit more from the 780 BST monster.
Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 216 SpD / 40 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 26 SpA
- Stealth Rock
- Precipice Blades
- Roar
- Fire Punch
Groudon’s mostly here to keep random jank out. Since Groudon is much harder to cheese in Singles, it could fully use its oppressive defensive typing and very high stats to keep many threats away. When I could see potential cheese coming (Moody, some Baton Pass stuff, other strats involving non-Ubers), Groudon would come in. I probably should have used it more against more standard teams due to its Fairy resistance and the fact that it’s my Stealth Rock setter, but Groudon did what it needed to nevertheless. I don’t actually know what the EVs do. The Speed was pretty much only there to Speed creep other slow Groudons lol.
Yveltal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 20 Def / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- U-turn
- Foul Play
Yveltal was extremely good in this competition. Most opted to run a bulky set with Foul Play, Toxic, and Roost, often holding a Rocky Helmet. It may or may not be better than Choice Scarf, but Scarf allowed me to more reliably check Normalium Z Arceus and Stone Edge Necrozma, and kept the team safe from Psychic spam shenanigans.
This slot was initially Marshadow, and I was close to locking in Marsh for the competition due to my familiarity with it. However, I remembered that every team will likely have a bulky Arceus and/or bulky Yveltal based off my limited actual team encounters in BSS Free and I can’t see Marshadow actually doing much. Also Marshadow is not very good at revenge killing Necrozma. I am very glad to have switched over to Yveltal at the last minute.
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Photon Geyser
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Sunsteel Strike
Necrozma was brought often frequently due to its role compression as a Fairy check and as a revenge killer. While Stone Edge over Sunsteel Strike would have made it a stronger wallbreaker by blasting apart all those pesky tank Yveltals, Sunsteel ensured that the team doesn’t fall flat to Xerneas, and enabled me to combat Arceus-Fairy when threatened with a burn or a super effective coverage like Fire Blast or Earth Power. Light that Burns the Sky, however, didn’t get much use, and made me wish I had another Z move somewhere, but I did not regret running Ultranecrozium because the forme change itself had a lot of value.
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While the team wasn’t as polished as I would like it to be, my regrets are minimal. My only regret is not starting late enough (I started on Friday night, one day earlier than when I’d normally start International Challenges) to take advantage of inflated ratings to cruise my way to the top. Regardless, I hope I was able to give the squad a good final showing before Dexit. Until next time!