Where is the Rain? 3rd Place Senior Division Worlds Report
Hello my name is Cameron Swan but I’m also known as Drizzleboy on the forums. I recently placed 3rd at both US Nationals and the World Championships in Vancouver. I was thinking about doing a Nationals write up but the teams are very similar so I chose not to. I went 5-1 in the swiss rounds placing me as the number one seed for the Top Cut. In Top Cut I lost to Hayden McTavish putting me at 3rd place which was way better than I expected to do. Without further adieu lets go check out the team!
The Team
Thundurus-I @Electric Gem
Trait: Prankster
IVs: 31 / 30 / 30 / 31 / 31 / 31
EVs: 196 HP / 60 Sp.Atk / 252 Sp.Def
Calm Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Thunder wave
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Swagger
This is the typical bulky Thundurus set that I took from Aaron Zheng’s 2012 Nationals team. The special defense and HP EVs let you survive Dragon Gem Draco Meteor from timid Latios and also survives Dragon Gem Draco Meteor from a modest Hydreigon 31.25% of the time. The extra EVs were put into Special Attack so Electric Gem Thunderbolt would do more damage. Hidden Power Ice was added to hit ground types like Garchomp and Landorus-T. Thunder Wave was used for speed control. Swagger was actually a mistake; I meant to add Taunt for Worlds but forgot. Thundurus was extremely useful in my match against Takumi Konno. I KO’d Landorus with Hidden Power Ice, Thunder Waved his Choice Scarfed Latios, and KO’d Thundurus-T in two shots with Hidden Power Ice, making him the MVP of that match.
Liepard @ Dark Gem
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Sp.Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
-Fake out
-Foul Play
-Encore
-Swagger
Bisharp @ Choice Band
Trait Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
– Sucker Punch
– Low Kick
– Night Slash
– Psycho Cut
Bisharp was the third dark type I tested. At first I had Sunny Day Sableye to counter rain, but he wasn’t useful and wasn’t working out so then I started to test Liepard. Liepard did make a huge improvement by doing heavy damage to Metagross and Garchomp while also adding Fake out support to the team, which really helped. Sadly he was not very useful because everyone already knew how to counter Liepard so I replaced him with Bisharp. Bisharp worked extremely well, being able to KO Hitmontop with Psycho Cut after Intimidate, Landorus with Sucker Punch after Intimidate, and Salamance with Sucker Punch after Intimidate. He also KOs 4 HP Tornadus, Thundurus, and Volcarona most of the time. Sadly in one of my battles with Ben Hickey (darkpenguin67) his Tornadus survived Sucker Punch with only 1 HP. Low kick KOs 252 HP non-Chople berry Heatran and Tyranitar in one shot. Night slash I only used against Cresselia because they were rarely attacking when I had Bisharp out. Bisharp was amazing in my matches against Anilcan Akcos (Billabro). Billabro’s team had double Intimidate giving me a boost whenever he sent out Scrafty or Landorus-T.
Landorus-T @ Yache Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 176 Atk / 84 Sp.Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Stone Edge
– U turn
– Protect
Landorus Therian was one of the Pokémon I used most frequently at Worlds and Nationals. I usually like Focus Sash or Choice Scarf on Landorus but both were already taken. I didn’t like him fainting in one shot to Ice attacks so I gave him a Yache Berry. I run a bulkier set because he already has one of the highest attack stats in game so I saw no need to increase it further. The EVs were to survive Draco Meteor from modest Scarf Hydreigon (sadly didn’t see any) and take Ice attacks easier. The attacks are what you usually see on most Landorus-T’s movesets except Stone Edge. Stone Edge was very useful, letting me KO bulky Thundurus and Tornadus in one shot! U-turn was very useful being able to switch and land heavy damage on Cresselia, Latios, and Hydreigon while also using Intimidate again. I saw a lot of Heatran and Tyranitar as well so I could deal heavy damage to them with Earthquake with the downside of affecting my own Pokemon.
Cloyster @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spd
Adamant Nature
– Icicle Spear
– Rock Blast
– Razor Shell
– Explosion
Cloyster is the MVP of the team. Cloyster was able to KO dragons, genies, and mushrooms with Icicle Spear even after Intimidate thanks to its ability Skill Link which makes attacks that hit more than once hit a guaranteed five times. His Rock Blast is also boosted with Skill Link allowing it to KO Charti Berry Volcarona after Intimidate. He can also 2HKO Gyarados with Rock Blast which was very useful after battling two at Worlds. Explosion I didn’t really use; I just put it on Cloyster as a filler move because he has a very small movepool. Razor shell I rarely used but it was still useful. In game two against Billabro, I Razor Shelled his Heatran after Intimidate taking around 1/3 of his health but also weakening his Eruption which let my sleeping Landorus-T survive, wake up, and then get the KO. In my battles against mprox and Paul Chua (pwny person), Cloyster was useful for KOing their Amoonguss, Garchomp, and Gyarados.
Volcarona @ Bug Gem
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 84 Sp.Atk / 52 Sp.Def / 116 Spd
Modest Nature
– Heat wave
– Bug Buzz
– Rage Powder
– Protect
Volcarona was more useful at Nationals than Worlds. At Worlds everyone had a counter to Volcarona but I still used him in a few matches if I saw the opponent had a Cresselia, Scizor, or Latios. The speed EVs let you outspeed max speed jolly Breloom which came in handy a lot. The bulk EVs allows Volcarona to survive a timid Dragon Gem Draco Meteor from Latios. The leftover EVs were put into Special Attack and Defense. The most useful move ever in my opinion is Rage Powder which redirects all attacks to Volcarona including slower Fake Outs. That came in handy paired up with Breloom or Bisharp as Volcarona could take a Mach Punch or other attack allowing Breloom to get off a Spore. Bug Gem Bug Buzz is extremely powerful, KOing Cresselia after being hit by Icicle spear from Cloyster, U-turn from Landorus-T, or Bisharps Night Slash. Heat Wave I didn’t use as much as Bug Buzz because it is weaker than Bug Buzz but it was still useful against Amoonguss, Conkeldurr, and Bisharp.
Breloom @ Focus Sash
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
-Bullet Seed
-Mach Punch
-Spore
-Protect
This is the basic Breloom set you see everywhere. It has the basic EVs and all the regular moves so there isn’t much I am going to say about this Pokémon. Focus Sash is the most useful item on him because he is so frail. Mach Punch was helpful KOing Choice Scarf Tyranitar and 2KOing non-Chople Berry Heatran. Bullet Seed was helpful against Edward Fan (iss) because it threatened his Terrakion and Suicune. Spore came in handy against slow bulky Pokemon like Cresselia, Scrafty, and Metagross.
Closing Thoughts
I had a really fun time at Worlds and I am glad I did so well competing in the tournament for the first time. I have to thank Sabaku, Blitznburst, and Lilwhiterice for helping me out with the team whether it was team-building or just battling a lot. I met really strong trainers and battled many as well. I hope to see everyone next year!
About the Author
Drizzleboy Drizzleboy has been playing VGC since 2011. His first success was at 2013 Massachusetts regionals placing 2nd. since then he has made top 4 in both nationals and worlds.
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15 Responses to Where is the Rain? 3rd Place Senior Division Worlds Report
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Congrats on 3rd place at Worlds.
Extra points for running a CB Bisharp, though personally I was never really sold on trying to use Psycho Cut on one. +1 CB Iron Head will still OHKO Hitmontops pretty cleanly after all.
Nicely done, sounds like a fun team to use. Cloyster was one of my first favorite competitive Pokemon. And props for using Psycho Cut Bisharp, I never knew he had the move.
Really awesome team man, and congrats on your 3rd place at worlds!
I just noticed that your Landorus-T spread surpases the ev limit by 8 evs btw
good job cameron i knew you could do it. congrats and hope to see you at the next regional!
Great job man! Really cool team, Hope to see at nationals again next year.
You still should have used Iron Head Bisharp at worlds over Psycho Cut, and there is a disappointing lack in mentioning that it was supposed to be that.
Still love it though
Psycho Cut would mean being able to invest in Bisharps bulk a little bit as, though iron head is sufficient with a positive nature and max attack, Psycho Cut plainly does more damage to fighters. Good write-up and congrats on your final standing!
Iron Head gets the same OHKOs and even can OHKO Scrafty. Much more useful.
Good call, tackling Scrafty is a huge benefit. My only point was that with a different EV spread you can get more bulk out Bisharp and use Psycho Cut to OHKO Hitmontop still.
Congrats, bro! 3rd Place at Worlds is something to be proud of! I am honored to have played you in the top 8 at Nationals! 😀
Maybe Amoongus though.
252+ Atk Bisharp Iron Head vs. 212 HP / 108 Def Amoonguss: 84-100 (38.88 – 46.29%) — guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Bisharp Psycho Cut vs. 212 HP / 108 Def Amoonguss: 100-118 (46.29 – 54.62%) — 56.64% chance to 2HKO
Using Psycho Cut in this case is still essentially a coin flip at best on whether you get the 2HKO or not. You shouldn’t be relying on coin flips when teambuilding or to prove a point. It’s best to assume you lose the coin flip (because Pokemon), and that you’ll get the 3HKO with Psycho Cut–which Iron Head gets anyways.
Iron Head 30% Flinch > Zen Headbutt 20% Flinch. Number wise Iron Head is the Logical choice, although Zen Headbutt hits more things neutrally. Both good moves, but I’d rather get STAB Iron Head with higher flinch rate.
Good call Honchkro, should always plan for worst case scenario. Amoongus could always be physically bulkier that that Jio spread I used. Araulen, though I love flinch rates we are talking about psycho cut, a hi crit rate move. Hehe crit rate…
Why the yams did I think we were talking about Zen Headbutt….my mistake. The worst part is I quoted what you wrote, and Psycho Cut is written all over your quote