After Japan Nationals, I got bored of using RayOgre, so I tested out various teams and archetypes. I felt none of them suited me, so I went back to YvelDon, which I had been using since Sun Series. This was my first 6, with a Gengar-based YvelDon core:



The team aims to support Max HP/SpDef Gengar via Intimidate while allowing Groudon to sweep either under Trick Room or after using Icy Wind. Although the team was able to counter opposing XernDon, which Yveltal teams use to struggle against, I gave up on these six after realizing how strong Rayquaza teams were against it, especially considering their huge damage output. With Gengar as my mega, I couldn’t think of an answer to opposing Landorus either, which was popular back then, and the 50/50s between Banded/SD Ray were painful, too.



As I gave up on Gengar, I searched for other megas and cores that could fit YvelDon. After looking at Ryusei Yamane’s Tapunium Z + Bullet Punch Metagross team, which got Top 8 at Japan Nationals, I noticed how versatile and powerful they were against non-Xerneas teams, so I began testing it. In regards to using Metagross as my mega, I wasn’t concerned about its strength since my two friends Marshmallow and Sepal have been using it.



When thinking about the other 2 slots, Incineroar was a must in order for YvelDon to function. For the final slot, I noticed how the only speed control against Xerneas I had was Tapu Fini’s Icy Wind, so I wanted Trick Room to counter Geomancy. Thus I chose Stakataka, which I have been using since Sun series as well.



With these 6, I didn’t have anything that could easily take Water Spout + Dragon Ascent from RayOgre teams, and I noticed how I was forced to play passively from the start, just like happened with my Gengar version. In order to threaten the two Pokémon above from the beginning, I replaced Tapu Fini with Tapu Koko. Koko’s Volt Switch allows the team to easily maneuver around during the weather war against Kyogre.



5 of the slots were weak to Ground, and opposing Groudon were problematic although I had counters. I was using Shuca Berry Stakataka initially, but I never brought it to those games for a number of reasons: it can’t really take a hit, then set up TR next turn; opposing Eruption were hard to deal with; and even if you do set up TR against Ray, Special Groudon + Shuca Stakataka still failed to beat Ray. So I replaced Stakataka with Mimikyu in order to solve this problem.



I settled down with these 6 quite early. I was still unsure about the Mimikyu slot, so I tried to look for replacements, but couldn’t think of anything better than Mimikyu. When testing out the team, I began to understand how late game Trick Room was very effective against X-Ray and Tailwind teams with Crobat/Tornadus (which is obvious). Against Kyogre teams, even with Trick Room (in fact, with every speed control option), you have to pivot around with Groudon to take the weather advantage, so I noticed how disadvantageous it was to waste turns.

Although it’s hard to determine when to bring each one, I noticed how strong the team’s two major gameplans were, especially on a best of three setting: