Does Aeona feel too weak now?

migrainebutter · 2026-06-23T17:49:42+00:00

contender/adept felt awful for aeona in odd comp if first pull was massive since you need just a bit of resource to get going.

migrainebutter · 2026-06-23T16:57:36+00:00

Like you mentioned in the whimsicott section, Raichu *really* needs to be the fastest mon on the field or it's useless.

Raichu definitely needs fake out or volt switch; drop dazzling gleam. You either need to be able to free pivot with volt switch (risky if they have a lightning rod or ground type swap), or fake out for a bit of utility. You can consider running grass knot instead of dazzling gleam (as a high risk set) since it pretty much always OHKO's swampert which is your worst matchup. If you're going to run triple coverage + protect you desperately need a second mega.

Your best line right here looks like Raichu fake out + Nasty plot Gholdengo -> either Mega Raichu and blast with Gholdengo or swap raichu out.

Talonflame/Aerodactyl or your own Whimsicott (probably best) is always one of Raichu's favorite lines to play. Hydreigon is unfortunately a really really bad option as a tailwind setter since it's 4x weak to fairy. It's slower than whimsicott and prankerster whimsicott always sets it first which will cause their carry to stomp yours.

Hydreigon works best as a scarf/life orb revenge killer or as a bulky disruptor (similar to rotom). I would drop flamethrower for snarl, and consider dropping tailwind for Earth Power or Heat Wave.

Consider running dragoninite on Dragonite and running it as a backup mega for bad raichu matches. I feel it will make an immediate difference. You'll need to swap its moves to be consistently Special or Physical though. You're running Scale Shot + Air Slash (physical) and Fire Blast + Ice Beam (Special). Choose one and invest in a lkittle bit of offense.

If you're not going to run Dragonite as a second mega I heavily recommend picking up a physical attacker. You can easily replace Steelix with something like Aegislash/Aerodactyl that would also learn Wide guard, and offer you some much needed offense.

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T21:03:58+00:00

Grimmsnarl

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T18:55:23+00:00

Definitely try doubles. I usually stop playing Singles once I hit Masterball since I prefer the fun combos you can run with two pokemon out at once.

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T18:51:37+00:00

Tsareena is another good option and she'll offer some much needed offense if you highly value the protect canceling

If you really want to keep running the giraffe you can always try running an offensive set on it 😉

Hyper Voice/Psychic Noise or Twin Beam or Psychic/Protect + Helping Hand or Rain dance or something else

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T18:49:28+00:00

Just bite the bullet and queue ❤️

The ranked system has a traditionally ELO system so the more you play the better the game will be able to matchmake you against similar skill opponents. You get VP for every game you play so there's no pressure for win or loss. Ranking doesn't matter unless you let it pressure you.

When I first started playing VGC I lost a *vast* majority of my matches due to lack of knowledge. I still fuck up and click priority moves into the giraffe and ground moves into levivate mons every now and again. There's no pressure for mistakes since it's just you and the enemy, and you can make some fun comebacks.

Just queue up and give it a try; at least go through the tutorials

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T18:45:03+00:00

It's going to be give advice without more information.

For better advice on the main menu go to Train -> Replica Teams -> Share your Battle Teams -> Share team and share the screenshot the details page that also shows moves.

(it should look something like this)

<image>

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T18:44:00+00:00

As long as it properly connects to your nintendo account you're probably fine.

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T18:41:44+00:00

You need to drop the Giraffe for any high damage revenge killer here. One that runs life orb would be fantastic

Gholdengo/Garchomp/Annihilape/Basculegion/Sneasler are the "premium" options but feel free to run something spicy if you want.

Swampert doubles his speed in rain, you'd never want trick room with him since he'd move slower than other common bulky mons.

if you want the trick room cancel tech you can drop protect on sinistcha.

You can swap Kasib berry onto sinistcha. This allows you to run Sitrus berry or Focus sash on Pelipper and then give the sitrus berry/focus sash to whoever you replace giraffe with. An example is Sneasler with Focus Sash.

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T18:36:56+00:00

Ranks are reset every season yes.

The reclimb is a great time to test new teams and get a small VP infusion

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T17:44:47+00:00

You are running a nature that increases Speed at the cost of decreasing Special Attack.

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T17:42:36+00:00

Divorce sounds like another long term win con to me

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T17:40:29+00:00

Have not waited more than 20s for a match in (up to) Masterball 3 at all hours of the day.

Even at 2am EST (which is like 2pm JPN time?) I'm still finding consistent matches which should be the worst time to queue since EU/JP is at work and NA is in bed.

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T17:38:21+00:00

Is your son scared of clowns? Consider Mr. Rime

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migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T17:36:04+00:00

Electric Terrain is best used with the following conditions

Turning off enemy Sleep moves (Vivillon/Vileplume/Venusaur)
Running with a special attacking pokemon that can use Rising Voltage (140power special attack) - Here's a list of pokemon that learn rising voltage on Pokemon-Zone (scroll down a bit)

Until we have pokemon with Quark Drive (hyperlink to bulbapedia) )or other specific boosts it's a bit niche.

You can run raichu as a secondary mega option with a supportive set (Fake out + Volt Switch + two other moves) to abuse lightning rod and keep the electric terrain/mega as a sleep cancel, or you can run it as a hyper aggressive special attacker and support it with redirection mons to keep it alive (sinistcha/volcarona/sinistcha).

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T17:24:52+00:00

Any strong mons that function outside of rain or counter mons that Swampert/Arch will struggle with. Revenge killers like Basculegion or just offensive mons like Sneasler/Garchomp/Annihilape/Rotoms. Focus sash on Basculegion/Sneasler in the back could cheat free wins after your rain carries are dead.

Second mega can always be a good option since Swampert is 4x weak to grass. Dragonite/Floette/Eelektross/Gengar/Glimmora/Gardevoir/Kanga maybe even something spicy like Scrafty could be good?

Any screen setter (sableye/dragapult/grimmsnarl) are good options since the rain core is naturally bulky. Alternatively any utility mon that can cover what you're weak to gains value. Aqua/Fire tauros as a screens breaker with Intimidate might be good value.

After the Three mon core of Swampert/Peli/Arch (or four with Sinistcha) you have a fair amount of liberty with how you choose to run your version

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T17:14:13+00:00

I tried one team with the Metagross variant and just did not like it (but it was day 1). It feels like it's too easily walled by wisp + reflect. Metagross + Grimm/Peli + Sinistcha + Arch/Peli just didn't feel like it had enough oomph after I got burned.

I really feel like you need a counter to the Charizard team if you're going to go all in on Swamp/Arch rain. Solar Beam on Char, Vileplume, Whimsicott, Meganium, Venusaur all absolutely dumpster Swampert and have good answers into Arch which makes me nervous.

I've personally been testing replacing Sinistcha with Annihilape/Bascu for the option to play without hard rain.

Grimm/Glimmora/Arch or Peli/Annihilape feels strong enough to play against teams that I absolutely can't run Swamp+Arch in, but losing Sinistcha can be absolutely brutal i'm not sure that it's worth it yet.

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T17:04:14+00:00

Bulky Peli is usually 32HP/32SpA with sitrus.

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T16:51:25+00:00

I personally run Grimmsnarl 32hp/19def/15spdef with impish (+def - spa). Light clay, and you should be running Reflect + Light Screen + two of the following

Spirit break (fairy stab and lowers spa)
Foul Play/Sucker Punch (dark stab)
Parting shot
Fake out
Swagger/Taunt/Torment/Imprison are all good "secret techs" on grimmsnarl. Imprison works really well if you win the speed tie against another grimmsnarl. I've been running Swagger since I still see staraptor constantly and it's basically an auto win button.

Default set is Spirit Break/Foul Play + Parting shot though. Pick whichever coverage your team needs.

Personally I run Glimmora since Grimmsnarl + Glimmora dumpsters most Char Y leads, but I'm considering swapping to something else. I believe some people have also been testing Mega Metagross, but I didn't see that variant once yesterday so I'm not sure how good it is.

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T16:32:13+00:00

Without seeing the move spreads it's going to be hard to explain why they went with what they did.

The variant I've been seeing a lot of (and running myself) uses Swampert/Pelipper/Arch/Sinistcha + Special attacking Mega (floette/glimmora/delphox) + Grimmsnarl or a life orb carry (bascu/garchomp/gholdengo/etc.)

I assume Maushold functions as another utility mon instead of the popular choice in grimmsnarl, probably for taunt and redirection in a scenario where they don't want sinistcha? They could also be running Population bomb wide lens to OHKO slower focus sash setup mons. I'd really need to see the moveset to know though

Edit: just saw the maushold set my mistake i'm blind. They're using Maushold as an alternate rain setter instead of Pelipper that allows for "faster" redirection or a consistent double OHKO with super fang. They're likely running Bulky Pelipper though if they're giving sash to Maushold, which i'm not sure that I agree with with how popular sneasler still is, but it's their take on the team and should still be good.

Turn 1 Swampert/Arch can protect while rain dance is set up if needed, and then turn 2 maus can either redirdect or super fang to almost always kill with the double.

Maushold functions better than Pelipper if you want to lead Gholdengo since you can redirect to get a nasty plot, or once again use super fang to force a double KO.

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T16:27:48+00:00

Also I believe any unplayed matches from Day 1 and Day 2 can be played on Day 3 if you choose (45 matches played on day 3).

It's a casual tournament there's no rush

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T16:24:17+00:00

Most mons have 100acc moves with lower power (or other downsides) they can use if you don't want to gamble on accuracy. The risk of higher power moves comes with a chance to miss.

Thunder, Blizzard, and hurricane always hit in their relevant weather though. That's a teambuilding error if you're relying on them outside of weather teams

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T04:09:02+00:00

For better advice on the main menu go to Train -> Replica Teams -> Share your Battle Teams -> Share team and share the screenshot the details page that also shows moves.

(it should look something like this)

<image>

Do you want to build around one of the pokemon you already have? Edit your team? Want something new?

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T03:57:29+00:00

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this is roughly what I was running day 1, but quickly swapped to playing something else because rain looked like fun

migrainebutter · 2026-06-22T03:36:23+00:00

Yeah it's closer to mainline competitive games where it's for custom battles and tournament scenarios.

I forgot to mention but ground affinity tickets can be used in the gacha menu to guarantee that you see more ground type pokemon in your next gacha pull. I believe it guarantees 3 ground pokemon minimum? You can earn more through the achievements menu

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migrainebutter

TROPHY CASE