Inner Focusing on a Legendary Metagame: Battle of Legends US 1st Place Report
Hello everyone! My name is Nathan (Kortex) and I am fairly new to the competitive scene. I started playing competitively around the end of 2013 and I first discovered Nugget Bridge a few months ago although I have been playing the video game franchise since 2004. What interested me the most about Nugget Bridge was the wide variety of team reports and insightful articles that helped me hone my skills as a competitive battler. Before finding these articles I did not even know about the basics like Effort Values and Individual Values! In the past few months, I feel like I have learned a great deal and quickly improved from level zero.
Team at a Glance
It is with this new knowledge that I present to you the team I used to attain first place in the U.S. Masters Division Battle of Legends Wi-Fi Competition (15th worldwide). In this Level 100 Double Battle competition I managed to achieve a solid 1780 finish with 22 wins and 2 losses. I was unable to complete the remaining six battles since the deadline was 4:00 PM here in southern California and I had been busy all day. I was barely to get my last four matches done right before the closing of the competition!
As for my team, I knew that I would have to account for an extensive range of dangerous threats such as Arceus, Darkrai, Kyogre, Mewtwo and Xerneas. With this in mind, I decided that I would use Xerneas and Darkrai as my two restricted Pokemon since those were the only competitive Legendaries I had in my P.C. immediately before the competition. The team is centered around Xerneas and Mega Kangaskhan, two incredibly powerful Pokemon that have the potential to annihilate opposing teams with the right support.
The Team
Thundurus-Incarnate @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 4 SpA / 144 SpD
Calm Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Thunder Wave
– Taunt
– Rest
- Survives Modest 252 Special Attack 150 BP Kyogre Water Spout 15/16 times (Double target)
- Survives Adamant 252 Attack Mega Kangaskhan Return 15/16 times
- Survives Modest 252 Special Attack Xerneas Dazzling Gleam 100% of the time
Thundurus was important because it crippled several major threats such as Choice Scarf Kyogre, Ludicolo in the rain, Mega Kangaskhan and Geomancy Xerneas. Thundurus’s Taunt was also very useful as it prevented opposing Xerneas and Darkrai from using Geomancy and Dark Void. In addition, it protected my team from other Prankster users and kept my Kangaskhan safe from Will-O-Wisp. Rest, in combination with Chesto Berry, ensured that Thundurus stayed on the field for a considerable length of time. It often caught my opponents off-guard when Thundurus regained all of its health after being close to fainting. The Chesto Berry also allowed me to shut down Darkrai completely, even if it held a Lum Berry or a Mental Herb.
Talonflame (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Brave Bird
– Flare Blitz
– Tailwind
– Quick Guard
Talonflame provided invaluable support for the team in the form of Tailwind and Quick Guard. Tailwind allowed me to outspeed the opposing team and proceed to set up or sweep with Darkrai, Xerneas, and Kangaskhan. Quick Guard was incredibly useful in blocking Fake Out, Arceus Extreme Speeds, Talonflame Brave Birds, and Prankster users. It often bought me a free turn to set up or take out a threat with Talonflame’s partner. The Focus Sash allowed it to take a hit and provide the team with another turn of support. Talonflame was also essential in dealing with the Steel types that would try to wall my Xerneas or Kangaskhan.
Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
– Dazzling Gleam
– Hidden Power Ground
– Geomancy
– Protect
- Outspeeds Choice Scarf Base 102’s and below after using Geomancy
- Survives Modest 252 Special Attack 150 BP Kyogre Water Spout in Rain 100% of the time
- Survives Adamant 252 Attack Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge 100% of the time
- Survives +2 Adamant 252 Attack Life Orb Arceus Extreme Speed 100% of the time
Xerneas makes up the first half of my setup sweeping duo. Along with Kangaskhan, it can destroy entire teams after one turn of setup. With a Power Herb, Xerneas instantly gains a +2 boost in Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed from using Geomancy in one turn. This allows Xerneas to function both as an extremely fast sweeper and a Special Defensive wall. Hidden Power Ground enables Xerneas to power its way through several of its counters such as Heatran, Mega Mawile, and Aegislash after a Geomancy boost.
Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus -> Parental Bond
EVs: 164 HP / 156 Atk / 44 Def / 4 SDef / 140 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Fake Out
– Return
– Power-Up Punch
– Sucker Punch
- Outspeeds Neutral-natured 252 Speed Xerneas and Yveltal and below
- Survives Modest 252 Special Attack 150 BP Kyogre Water Spout in Rain 15/16 times (Double target)
- Survives +2 Adamant 252 Attack Life Orb Arceus Extreme Speed 15/16 times
- Survives +2 Modest 252 Special Attack Xerneas Dazzling Gleam 100% of the time (Double target)
- Survives Modest 252 Special Attack Life Orb Mewtwo Aura Sphere 100% of the time
- Survives Adamant 252 Attack Landorus-T Superpower 100% of the time
Kangaskhan was Xerneas’s partner in crime, taking out the majority of the opposing team in countless battles. It was able to deal great damage to many of the popular Legendary Pokemon in the format even without a Power-Up Punch boost. The widely underused Ability Inner Focus shocked several of my opponents and gave me the element of surprise. In several of my matches, faster Pokemon like Weavile would often Fake Out my Kangaskhan to win the Fake Out war only to watch my Kangaskhan Fake Out their other Pokemon to buy a free turn for my partner or boost itself with Power-Up Punch. In my games against the popular Kyogre and Ludicolo pair, Ludicolo would frequently Fake Out Kangaskhan while I would Fake Out Kyogre to give a partner like Xerneas or Darkrai an opportunity to use Geomancy or Dark Void, respectively. In the end, I feel like the decision to use Inner Focus over Scrappy was well worth it and gave me an edge in many of my battles.
Darkrai @ Mental Herb
Ability: Bad Dreams
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Dark Void
– Dark Pulse
– Substitute
– Protect
Darkrai provided Xerneas and Kangaskhan excellent opportunities to set up and take out the opposing team. Darkrai is essentially a deadlier version of Smeargle with its incredibly fast Dark Void. With Fake Out, Quick Guard, Tailwind, and Rage Powder support, Darkrai is almost guaranteed a chance to use Dark Void. Substitute eased prediction, protected Darkrai from status, and gave me an additional turn to use Dark Void if I successfully used Substitute without taking damage that turn. Setting up a Substitute after putting my opponents to sleep also made it much harder for them to knock out Darkrai and stop it from repeatedly using Dark Void. Finally, Mental Herb allowed it to bypass Taunt from Thundurus, Sableye, Talonflame, Whimsicott and others to complete its task for the team in creating free turns. I did not rely on Darkrai’s Dark Void to bring me victory in my battles. In fact, I did not bring it at all in several of my games. When I chose to bring it, I would always assume that Dark Void would miss at least one, if not both of its intended targets and I would formulate a backup strategy in my mind accordingly. Nevertheless, Darkrai was an incredible asset to the team and performed its job well in the matches that I brought it to.
Amoonguss (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Relaxed Nature
– Spore
– Rage Powder
– Grass Knot
– Protect
- Survives Adamant 252 Attack Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge 100% of the time
- Survives +2 Adamant 252 Attack Life Orb Arceus Extreme Speed 15/16 times
Amoonguss was vital to the team as it offered indispensable support with Spore and Rage Powder, as well as improving my team’s match-up against Trick Room. I could always rely on a 100% accurate Spore to put an immediate threat to sleep and buy me a free turn or two. In addition, Rage Powder was exceedingly useful at redirecting attacks away from the rest of the team. I chose to use Grass Knot instead of Giga Drain or Sludge Bomb because I wanted to be able to deal great damage to Kyogre and Groudon. Lastly, I selected the item Rocky Helmet to aid in handling physical threats such as Mega Kangaskhan and Arceus. In hindsight, I might have used Rage Powder Volcarona, Follow Me Eviolite Magmar, or Landorus-T with its Intimidate in this slot instead for additional help in dealing with the various Steel types that I encountered during my matches.
Closing Thoughts
In the end, I had lots of fun participating in this extraordinary competition and I feel like I have also become better as a player. I am pleased with my final results and I plan to participate in upcoming competitions as well. I hope to attend large live tournaments in the future and I look forward to meeting many other Pokémon players. Thank you for reading my report; I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
About the Author
Kortex is a relatively new competitive player. He joined Nugget Bridge this year with high goals of doing well at big league tournaments in the future. When not devising new strategies and playing online, Kortex enjoys activities such as basketball, biking, swimming, drawing and parkour. His favorite Pokemon is Tyranitar.
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7 Responses to Inner Focusing on a Legendary Metagame: Battle of Legends US 1st Place Report
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I knew kanga/xerneas/darkrai/talonflame cores were strong but I didn’t want to use darkrai myself.
Anyway congrats on doing so well, you clearly took a lot of care with this and it payed off. 🙂
Could you give us any more information on how specific, memorable battles went?
Got any battle videos?
In response to popular request, I will make a “Memorable Battles” section (complete with battle videos) and post it here when I have some spare time on my hands. Stay tuned for the update!
Congratulations on your success. I would appreciate if you didnt DC at the end of a lost battle next time, though.
Thank you for the report. Congratulations on your performance. Looking forward to the battle videos.
Memorable Battles
I will list the Battle Videos and then explain my thoughts during each battle below the video. I recommend watching the video first to avoid spoiling the battles ahead of time.
The first two Pokemon listed on each team are the leading Pokemon in that battle.
My Team: Mega Kangaskhan, Xerneas, Talonflame, Darkrai
Opponent’s Team: Mega Kangaskhan, Meowstic, Kyogre, Arceus-Normal
Battle Video: HUTW-WWWW-WWW9-WRF9
At the start of this battle, I correctly predict a Quick Guard from his Meowstic and an attack on Xerneas from his Kangaskhan. In response, my Kangaskhan gets a +2 Power-Up-Punch boost on the opposing Kangaskhan while my Xerneas safely protects itself from an incoming Double-Edge. Kangaskhan proceeds to take out my entire opponent’s team while my Xerneas goes down early to a Helping Hand boosted Double-Edge. Several of my team’s key features are shown in this battle. My Kangaskhan survives Kyogre’s 150 BP Water Spout, Talonflame sets up Tailwind, and Talonflame survives Water Spout with its Focus Sash to successfully block Arceus’s Extreme Speed the following turn.
My Team: Talonflame, Darkrai, Mega Kangaskhan, Xerneas
Opponent’s Team: Talonflame, Darkrai, Mega Mawile, Kyogre
Battle Video: B4RG-WWWW-WWW9-WUKS
This game was interesting because it begins with a Talonflame and Darkrai mirror match-up. The battle starts as both Talonflame use Tailwind and my Darkrai uses Dark Void while his Darkrai Protects. I assumed he would Protect his Darkrai while his Talonflame would Taunt my Mental Herb Darkrai so I figured I could safely use Dark Void. On the next turn, I discover that his Darkrai is holding a Lum Berry as he quickly wakes up and puts my entire team to sleep, sealing the game! Or that is how it might have ended. Luckily, Dark Void misses my own Darkrai and I am able to set up a Substitute and recover from a terrible position. Looking back, it would have been wiser to set up a Substitute on turn one in case he used Tailwind to force a speed tie on turn two. This game demonstrates that some battles can be decided on the first turn and that one misplay can often lead to an early loss.
My Team: Talonflame, Xerneas, Mega Kangaskhan, Thundurus
Opponent’s Team: Sableye, Palkia, Mega Blaziken, Chansey
H6BG-WWWW-WWW9-WUUY
Looking at Team Preview, I saw that Xerneas would be able to run down most of his team. I knew I would easily be able to set up with Geomancy by using Quick Guard to protect Xerneas from Sableye’s Fake Out or Taunt. This works out perfectly as I block a Confuse Ray and get the Geomancy boost. My opponent switches Chansey in but Thundurus promptly shuts it down with Taunt. At this point, there is not much my opponent can do and Xerneas makes quick work of his team.
My Team: Mega Kangaskhan, Xerneas, Talonflame, Darkrai
Opponent’s Team: Volcarona, Darkrai, Aegislash, Mega Kangaskhan
X9GW-WWWW-WWW9-WUJ4
He immediately switches Darkrai out for Aegislash to avoid a Fake Out from my Kangaskhan. In the meantime, Xerneas uses Geomancy and his Volcarona uses Quiver Dance. We both swap KOs in the following turns and eventually I have a 40% health Kangaskhan and full health Darkrai up against his own full health Kangaskhan and an Aegislash that is barely hanging on in the red. I use Power-Up-Punch with Kangaskhan and protect Darkrai. My opponent actually Sucker Punches my Kangaskhan, leaving it with 4 HP while attempting to Sacred Sword Darkrai. The following turn, I use Fake Out’s increased priority to avoid another Sucker Punch while Darkrai takes this opportunity to use Dark Void.
My Team: Talonflame, Darkrai, Mega Kangaskhan, Xerneas
Opponent’s Team: Talonflame, Kyogre, Mega Kangaskhan, Ferrothorn
RJHW-WWWW-WWW9-WUSC
Darkrai’s Mental Herb comes in really handy in this match. My opponent had clearly taken several counter measures against Darkrai including Lum Berry Taunt Talonflame and Chesto Rest Ferrothorn. However, Darkrai was able to bypass both of these counters with Talonflame’s help and shift the match in my favor.
My Team: Talonflame, Darkrai, Mega Kangaskhan, Xerneas
Opponent’s Team: Dialga, Meowstic, Mega Mawile, Landorus-T
63AW-WWWW-WWW9-WUZW
In this battle, his Meowstic sets up Safeguard to prevent me from putting his team to sleep. In response, I set up Substitutes with Darkrai to wait it out and concentrate my efforts on taking out the Meowstic. Eventually, Safeguard wears off and Xerneas and Darkrai are on the field against Dialga and Mega Mawile. I make a risky play here and use a combination of Geomancy and Dark Void in hopes of an easy victory. However, I pay for this dicey play when Dark Void misses Mawile. Of course, Xerneas goes down and I am left with only my Talonflame and Xerneas. In the end, I manage to win with a 2 HP Darkrai left on the field.
I hope you enjoyed my battle videos and I apologize for the lack of variety and amount of recorded matches. This is my first time writing a report and I only thought about saving battle videos near the end of the tournament. I wish I had some videos featuring Thundurus and Amoonguss in action but I’ll make sure to save all my battles for you guys in the future!