Tail Up : The AusTerrain VGC 16 Special

Introduction

How’s it going guys, Mitch Kendrick (MitchVGC) here with a report on the team I used for 3 out of the 4 regionals I attended. I must admit, VGC 16 was a format that I did not particularly enjoy from the outset, as I found myself struggling to build a consistent team and was not finding as much success with Big 6 as others were seemingly getting. I eventually found myself becoming comfortable with Ray-Ogre however I felt it was getting quite out of date prior to regionals.

The Team

Around this time Luke (Dawg) had been messing around on showdown with a team that was designed to infuriate the opponent rather than produce consistent wins. I wanted to play around with the team for a while as a distraction from the stresses of teambuilding, so Luke kindly gave me the pastebin for the team.

 TAIL UP

Smeargle @ Focus Sash  

Ability: Own Tempo  

Level: 50  

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD  

Relaxed Nature  

IVs: 28 Spe  

- Dark Void  

- Follow Me  

- Crafty Shield  

- Spiky Shield  

Bronzong @ Lum Berry  

Ability: Levitate  

Level: 50  

EVs: 244 HP / 148 Atk / 116 SpD  

Sassy Nature  

IVs: 0 Spe  

- Trick Room  

- Gyro Ball  

- Skill Swap  

- Hypnosis  

Kyogre @ Blue Orb  

Ability: Drizzle  

EVs: 204 HP / 252 Def / 52 SpA  

Modest Nature  

- Water Spout  

- Scald  

- Ice Beam  

- Protect  

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite  

Ability: Inner Focus  

Level: 50  

EVs: 36 HP / 140 Atk / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  

Jolly Nature  

- Return  

- Aqua Tail  

- Fire Punch  

- Fake Out  

Talonflame @ Life Orb  

Ability: Gale Wings  

Level: 50  

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe  

Adamant Nature  

- Brave Bird  

- Flare Blitz  

- Tailwind  

- Quick Guard  

Xerneas @ Power Herb  

Ability: Fairy Aura  

Level: 50  

EVs: 4 HP / 44 Def / 156 SpA / 52 SpD / 252 Spe  

Timid Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Moonblast  

- Dazzling Gleam  

- Geomancy  

- Protect  

The goal of the team was to get surprise knockouts on Groudon, as well as Ferrothorn when it was more prominent. This was achieved by using Aqua Tail on a turn that Kyogre is switching in, as even at -1 it was picking up the knockout the majority of the time. This allows for a giant momentum shift and gives Kyogre the opportunity to dish out major damage with one of its main threats gone. Unsuspecting Ferrothorn are also caught out by Fire Punch on a turn that Kyogre switches out.

While having the surprise Kangaskhan is fun, the team can also function well as a standard team, with its Xerneas + Smeargle mode, Bronzong to threaten Xerneas and provide speed and weather control.

After some fun victories I decided I wanted to take this team to a grassroots so I made some adjustments to produce the team you see above. Talonflame originally had snatch which I never used, so replaced it for Flare Blitz as I wanted an extra way to deal with Steel types as Kangaskhan’s Fire Punch wasn’t always enough. Bronzong also had gravity, for a while I was struggling to work out what to replace it with and eventually decided on hypnosis as a way to help against Gravity + Precipice Blades.

Tournaments

Grassroots

I took it to the grassroots feeling no pressure at all, as my reason for going was to help build up the numbers as the host was endeavouring to become a TO. I was able to produce some hilarious reactions from people who lost their Groudons to surprise Aqua Tails which was definitely the highlight of my day, and I eventually finished runner up. In light of this I felt pretty confident that I would be able to go X-2 at the upcoming in regional in Adelaide with this team so decided to test it out down there.

Adelaide Regionals (May 1st, 2016)

The event itself was a bit of a shamble. I went from playing a best of 3 match against Luke in round 2 to playing a best of 1 match against Nihal (UchihaX96) in round 3 which isn’t exactly ideal. Ultimately I finished 5-2 (13th Place), I was able to knock out a few Groudon with Aqua Tail which was quite enjoyable to say the least. I felt that the team proved itself to be quite solid, given that Adelaide was quite stacked I decided to continue using it at other regionals for some safe CP in the buildup to Nationals.

Sydney Regionals (May 14th, 2016)

I didn’t run into many Groudon at this regional, nor anyone who was very well known, though most of my opponents were quite skilled so no match could be considered easy. That being said, leading Kangaskhan with either Xerneas or Kyogre helped deal with my opponents quite comfortably. In the final round of swiss I was overjoyed to see both Groudon and Ferrothorn on my opponents team, however my opponent’s Smeargle prevented me from being able to Tail Up his team and as a result I did not make top cut. My finishing record was 6-2 (10th), and looking back on the losses, I had I found that I was not playing as well as I could have.

Brisbane Regionals (May 21st, 2016)

The majority of teams I faced were quite strange and not exactly what some would call “real teams”, for example in swiss I faced more Giratina than Xerneas and played against Minimize Chansey with Guard Split Shuckle at 5-1 which was pretty unbelievable to say the least. The team held up very strongly, however I did lose to Daniel Walker for the 3rd time in the swiss rounds out of the last 4 tournaments. I was able to Top cut as 4th seed after going 7-1 in Swiss rounds. The top cut matches were much tougher, and I lost in top 4 to the eventual champion.

Melbourne Regionals (May 29th, 2016) and beyond 

Going in to Melbourne I was not going to earn CP unless I finished in the top 8. Happy with my current amount of CP, I decided that I would focus on Nationals and use Melbourne regionals to test a potential team. I went 5-3 using William Tansley’s (StarKO) Double Primal team. I felt a little disappointed that I did not bring Tail Up to this regional as I felt top cut was a real possibility after seeing the teams that were playing at the X-1 and above tables in the final couple of rounds.

By the time Nationals came around I decided to run a variant of Big B with Raichu in place of Kangaskhan, and I felt very confident with my choice based on where the Australian metagame was at and recent trends in the International metagame. The swiss rounds being split over 2 days was a concern, the first 7 rounds were on day 1 where I finished 5-2, with my losses featuring moments where I could’ve sealed up the win but had a brain failure. Round 8 was the first round of the second day and my brain quite simply did not turn up this time, I would dare say it was the worst I have ever played. I finished 5-4 overall after not playing the final round as my opponent needed the win to secure his worlds invite.

This is where my season ended as I was unable to take time off to go to worlds, I am disappointed I was unable to take a new version of Tail Up to worlds, but hopefully I will once again get the opportunity to compete next year! 

I also ended up uploading a couple of videos to showcase Tail Up on my YouTube channel (Kendrick Mitch). If you want to check it out you can do so down below :)

Overall Thoughts

• This team unintentionally ended up looking like a Big B variant before Big B started becoming prominent, which I found to be amusing looking back.
• Another amusing point is that Xerneas + Kyogre + Bronzong has picked up in popularity as of late.
• Fire Punch did not end up being too useful after Ferrothorn usage started falling. Power Up Punch, Low Kick, or Sucker Punch would have been more useful later in the season.
• Opposing Kyogre was a difficult matchup.
• Team is still very solid even once the opponent is aware of Aqua Tail and plays around it accordingly.
• Practice is important, it is probably why this was my most successful team of the year
• Every time I used a team with Groudon this season, I did no better than X-3.

Shoutouts

• Luke (Dawg) - Thank you again for the team, it made the season much more fun.
• Nihal (UchihaX96) - His strong and consistent season is something that everyone should be aiming for. His help throughout the season has been invaluable.
• William Tansley (StarKO) - Thank you for letting me borrow your Nationals team for Melbourne regionals, and for the battle practice in the leadup to my Nationals.
• All of the Pear - Whether it be helping practice online, fun dinner events, cheering me on from halfway around the world, or general good banter. You guys are just the best.
• Nintendo Australia - I am grateful for the events but the running of them was a real step down this season.

Conclusion

With the VGC17 format looking on paper to be much more enjoyable than VGC16, I am looking forward to doing more write ups as the season progresses. Having also borrowed a capture card from Lionel (CatGonkVGC), keep an eye out for video content throughout the season!

See you all next season!

Mitch