Online Competition DRAGON KING CUP

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Unfortunately this is NOT some kind of Dragons-only competition. That in a 1v1 setting or something could have been funny. The name appears to have nothing to do with the rules...

This is a series 7 BSS competition with ONE normally banned Pokémon allowed. Similar to the Battle of Legends recently, except singles instead of doubles.

RULES (https://battle.pokemon-home.com/regulation/000000107/en)
  • Bring 6, pick 3. Singles
  • All Pokémon become level 50 in battle
  • Item clause
  • All Pokémon available in Sword and Shield, the DLCs, and Pokémon Bank transfer allowed EXCEPT:
    • Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Victini, Keldeo, Genesect, Diancie, Volcanion, Magearna, Marshadow, Zeraora, Meltan, Melmetal, Zarude
  • Each team limited to ONE of the following:
    • Mewtwo, Lugia, Ho-oh, Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Palkia, Dialga, Giratina, Zekrom, Reshiram, Xerneas, Kyurem, Yveltal, Zygarde, Cosmog, Cosmoem, Solgaleo, Lunala, Zacian, Zamazenta, Calyrex

So as you can see, nothing to do with Dragons or a Dragon King or whatever. Pretty weird. Anyway, what do you think will be good in this format?
 
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Calyrex-Shadow will probably be one of the best Pokémon in this format. Imagine Spectrier but with all the coverage options you could imagine and better stats.

Other strong Pokémon include Kyogre, Calyrex-Ice, Zacian-C, and Xerneas. I imagine the Calyrex forms, Kyogre and Zacian-C to be the top dogs in the tourney.
 

Theorymon

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On a surface level, Calyrex-Shadow Rider seems terrifying, but I'm gonna be an uncharteristicaly debbie downer and remind everyone that: Mimikyu will kick that thing's ass, so you better have a plan for it! I expect Mimikyu to be freaking everywhere.

I'm mainly interested in a few mons upon hearing about this comp:

* Zacian: I mean duh, this thing is an absurd offensive force! However, it's not just that: Zacian also kicks plenty of ass without Dynamaxing, letting a diferent mon of yours to Dynamax!

* Dusk Mane Necrozma: This is a horrifying Dynamax sweeper thanks to Prism Armor + Weakness Policy. Intimidate isn't quite as nasty to deal with in singles, so I think this is gonna be better than Solgaleo. This is gonna be key on on Trick Room teams as both a setter and a sweeper.

* Kyogre: Checking Scarf Kyogre when you're only allowed one Uber sounds like hell, this is tempting me to bring like... idk Dracovish or SOMETHING to take those Water Spouts!
 
My pick for this will probably be Dusk Mane Necrozma.

As Theorymon said, Mimikyu will be literally everywhere, it can punch its fake pikachu-face out of the battle and then some, and it can be good against Xerneas, which is obviously also a top pick. You can Trick Room but you can also try to Dragon Dance if you want.

I'm very interested in seeing how Meteor Beam Eternatus can fare in this. It's probably a "weaker version" of Zacian, but Dynamax Cannon hurts a lot, it's fast, and it's super cool looking and the inner child in me wants to try it. It cannot dynamax but well...I will test it on the showdown ladder, not entirely sure though, other nominations in this thread sound a lot more threatening.

And yeah. As already said, scarf Ditto will be a NIGHTMARE
 
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I get this feeling that WP or LO Reshiram could be a good pokemon to use as a check to the threats mentioned above. Blue Flare for Duskmane/Zacian-C, Shadow Ball for Shadow-Rider (before Nasty Plot), and a neutrality to Scarf Kyogre with access to Max Overgrowth (Solar Beam) and Max Strike (Hyper Voice). Give this thing some bulk and it could have a great chance in this tourney.

Calcs: Based on this Reshiram spread I came up with (196 HP, 24 Def, 252 SpA, 36 Spe, Modest Nature, Life Orb)
Almost all sets/spreads used in these calcs are based on pikalytics ubers usage

Against Scarf Kyogre:
252+ SpA Life Orb Turboblaze Reshiram Max Overgrowth vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kyogre: 190-224 (108.5 - 128%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Kyogre Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 196 HP / 0 SpD Dynamax Reshiram in Rain: 202-238 (50.5 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Against Zacian-C:
252+ SpA Life Orb Turboblaze Reshiram Blue Flare vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zacian-Crowned: 312-369 (186.8 - 220.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Play Rough vs. 196 HP / 24 Def Reshiram: 138-163 (69 - 81.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Against WP Dusk-Mane:
252+ SpA Life Orb Reshiram Blue Flare vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 248-292 (121.5 - 143.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Reshiram Blue Flare vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 199-234 (97.5 - 114.7%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
+2 0 Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Max Quake vs. 196 HP / 24 Def Dynamax Reshiram: 282-332 (70.5 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Against Scarf Shadow-Rider:
252+ SpA Life Orb Turboblaze Reshiram Blue Flare vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Calyrex-Shadow: 175-208 (99.4 - 118.1%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Turboblaze Reshiram Max Phantasm vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Dynamax Calyrex-Shadow: 468-556 (132.9 - 157.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Calyrex-Shadow Max Phantasm vs. 196 HP / 0 SpD Reshiram: 123-145 (61.5 - 72.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Turboblaze Reshiram Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Calyrex-Shadow: 291-348 (165.3 - 197.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Calyrex-Shadow Astral Barrage vs. 196 HP / 0 SpD Reshiram: 115-136 (57.5 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Calyrex-Shadow Expanding Force (120 BP) vs. 196 HP / 0 SpD Reshiram in Psychic Terrain: 150-177 (75 - 88.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Calyrex-Shadow Max Mindstorm vs. 196 HP / 0 SpD Reshiram in Psychic Terrain: 162-192 (81 - 96%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
 
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Theorymon

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So I got into the top 5! That doesn't really mean a huge amount on PS, but I did 67 matches, so I think I got a decent impression of what the metagame might end up like. I'm gonna go over what I think of some Ubers and regular mons!

Ubers I've seen


Calyrex Ice Rider

I think people are massively sleeping on this thing, Calyrex Ice Rider is a TERRIFYING sweeper. You know how nasty Glastrier TR teams can be? Imagine if Glastrier was bulkier, more powerful, and set up its own Trick Room! Seriously, the sheer snowballing potential of Life Orb Calyrex Ice Rider makes it a terrifying threat and damn near impossible to wall, I'd suggest giving it a try!


Calyrex Shadow Rider

Unlike Ice Rider, I actually think Calyrex Shadow Rider is rather over rated. With Mimikyu and Ditto being around, it's really easy to cheese Shadow Rider into the oblivion. I think this thing's best bet may be a Sash set to deal with Ditto, though even Stealth Rock makes that fail. Unlike Ubers, I just don't think Shadow Rider makes a ton of sense in this format.


Dusk Mane Necrozma

Not exactly shocking news, but yeah this thing is pretty damn good. It's insanely hard to KO, and both Dragon Dance and Trick Room sets are pretty fearsome sweepers! It also preforms really well against Calyrex Ice Rider, much to my chargin lol. Just note though, with Celesteela, Quagsire, and Ferrothorn being around, this is actually easier to mess with than you may think.


Yveltal

This is another mon I think people are sleeping on. It might not get Nasty Plot like Galarian Moltres, but its WAY more bulky and powerful otherwise. Not only is it a terrifying Max Airstream sweeper that hits hard right off the bat, they can also use more defensive sets with Foul Play and the likes.


Zacian

I mean, of course Zacian is a threat! It hits hard and is fast as fuck, hard for it not to be a threat. However, just note that it's very vulnerable to Scarf Ditto, and it actually isn't that hard to KO either. I do wonder if a bulkier set might make some sense...


Kyogre

I think everyone needs a Pokemon dedicated to handling Kyogre, not much can really handle Scarf Water Spouts! I personally use Rillaboom just to put pressure on it, but I wonder about more defensive options like Gastrodon (and Blissey if you're using stall).


Ho-Oh

This mon is pretty dangerous, its an extremely bulky Max Airstreamer that hits Steel-types hard. You can use it with Heavy-Duty Boots too so you can really take advantage of regenerator!


Lugia

I didn't actually see Lugia a whole lot, I just want to note that I lost my Calyrex Ice Rider to a Sub-stalling one LOL, curse that 8 PP...

Non Ubers I saw


Ditto

Choice Scarf Ditto is insanely good in this metagame. It's not just the usual reverse Dynamax sweep stuff: it's that you can use it to cheat your way into having two Ubers! It's especially helpful against Zacian. I can't recommend Ditto enough, its an easy last slot fill in imo!

Regieleki

As you'd expect, Regieleki makes a pretty damn good Dual Screener. I'm not convinved it's the only good one, but it's served me well, and it makes bulky sweepers such as Calyrex Ice Rider and Dusk Mane Necrozma scary as hell!


Urshifu

With all the dangerous physical Dynamax stuff roaming around, I think Sash Counter Urshifu is still really good! I prefer the Dark-type one in this case, because theres a lot of Pokemon that get hit hard by Wicked Blow, which is especially important with all the dual screens flying around.


Mimikyu

Mimikyu is about as good as you'd expect with Disguise being incredible, though just a note: it tends to not do well against a lot of the Dynamax legends except for Calyrex Shadow Rider. This isn't quite as good as I expected, but it's still good.


Cinderace-Gmax

Gmax Cinderace is still a damn good sweeper in this metagame! There is a twist to it though: With so many dual screen teams and Landorus-T flying around, I'd suggest using Focus Energy + Scope Lens, which allows Cinderace to not care about its attack getting lowered.


Rillaboom-Gmax

With Kyogre roaming around, Rillaboom is still really damn good! There's a lot of good mons that resist Grassy Glide, but CB Rillaboom can do its usual U-turn pivoting just fine.


Landorus-T

Landorus-T has some pretty juicey Intimidate targets such as Zacian and Dusk Mane Necrozma, so I think it's still quite good! It's also a very reliable setter of Stealth Rock, but offensive sets still work just fine imo.


Quagsire

Quagsire does really well against Zacian and some Dusk Mane Necrozma, so I'd expect to see this around more than you'd expect. Make sure your team isn't walled by this thing!


Celesteela

This isn't as crazy as it is in BSS, but it does very well against Dusk Mane Necrozma, which makes Celesteela worth a look. I'd say stick to the Subseed set, but offensive might do pretty well against Zacian too.
 

Kiwi

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great how do i join
How to Register for the Dragon King Cup
  1. Launch your Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield game.
  2. Open the X menu.
  3. Select VS.
  4. Select Battle Stadium.
  5. Select Online Competitions.
  6. Select Search Official Competitions.
The Dragon King Cup should be there, click on that and the rest is easy, you should be able to join the tour. In the case you need visual instructions:
Remember to build your team based on the rules at the first post. [The competition will run from December 10 at 4:00 p.m. PST through December 13 at 3:59 p.m. PST.]. Have fun!
 
Hi! Can I bring a rental team to a competition? If yes, can someone share one with me? I've start playing Pokemon Sword from few days and I haven't any battle ready Pokemon :)
 

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Hi! Can I bring a rental team to a competition? If yes, can someone share one with me? I've start playing Pokemon Sword from few days and I haven't any battle ready Pokemon :)
Unfortunately you can’t :psycry:

If you’re really keen to play you might be able to grab some Pokémon from giveaways in the Wi-Fi forum. Otherwise it might be too soon for you to play, but you can at least get to work building a supply of your own battle-ready Pokémon in the meantime for the next competition, or for good old ranked Battle Stadium.
 

Theorymon

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Since sign ups end in like an hour or so, I just want to remind everyone that: YOU DO NOT have lock in your team at sign ups!

In fact, you can sign up now, then start laddering late Saturday or early Sunday for a ladder rush, as your matches will roll over to the next day. This can be effective for seeing metagame trends to make your team more prepared, as they might not match what you saw in friendlies or the ladder! Also good for making last minute adjustments to your team.
 
I managed to get 27th place with a score of 1809 using my Dusk Mane Necrozma team.


My record was 32W-8L and once I reached the 1800+ threshold I just stopped playing. Plus I was super tired because the last 10 battles were very intense.

DuskMane.jpg

Swampert @ Focus Sash
Ability: Damp
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Counter
- Mirror Coat
- Flip Turn

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 0 Spe
- Transform

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Lum Berry
Ability: Prism Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Sunsteel Strike
- Psychic Fangs
- Shadow Claw

Gothitelle @ Choice Specs
Ability: Shadow Tag
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 252 SpA / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Cosmic Power
- Rest
- Stored Power

Regieleki @ Light Clay
Ability: Transistor
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 236 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 100 Spe
Timid Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Thunderbolt
- Explosion

Lapras-Gmax @ Life Orb
Ability: Water Absorb
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Sheer Cold
- Sparkling Aria
- Thunder

For this competition I wanted a solid Uber pick, with the most positive matchups possible, something that would fit my tastes but at the same time not something suboptimal (I'm sorry Kyurem Black, as much as I love you, you're just very subpar here). Once the Uber was chosen, I would try to enable him the best I can with the other 5 slots. This was the basic idea of the team.

I'm just going to talk about every single slot one at a time, and explain my thoughts/synergies on the way.

Nerozma.png

I immediately chose Dusk Mane Necrozma for his good offensive presence, good ability that cannot be neutered by Mold Breaker and other shenanigans unlike Filter/Solid Rock, signature moves with incorporated Mold Breaker effect (which is something I just love on offensive setup mons, my favourite thing to have on them, either those or Mold Breaker as an ability) and I thought, it would just be an insane threat under screens.

I tried some EVs combinations but after seeing this calc right here vs Modest Orb Yveltal:


252+ SpA Life Orb Dark Aura Yveltal Max Darkness vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Prism Armor Dynamax Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 294-347 (85.4 - 100.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

I just decided to give him max speed max atk Adamant and go all in. This calc wasn't even under screens. What a monster.

Necrozma would instantly give me a decent matchup vs Xerneas, which is a mon that I respect a lot, Sunsteel Strike is super good against Mimikyu and this means that its offensive cannot be stalled very well with disguise, and I loved Dragon Dance as a setup option, which is one of the most direct ways of boosting an offensive mon.

After a lot of thinking I decided to drop Photon Geyser in favor of Psychic Fangs. I hated the fact that it remains a special move in dynamax.
This comes at a price: I can get walled quite easily by Unaware Quagsire, but as you will see, the rest of the team covers Quagsire pretty well.
Plus, Psychic Fangs was actually super clutch during the competition: I won quite some screens matchups thanks to it.

The last moveslot was changed a lot, but in the end I registered the team with Shadow Claw on my Necrozma.
While Max Phantasm based on Shadow Claw is "only" 120 BP, the defense drop was extremely useful in breaking a lot of defensive configurations, and it was glorious catching the Celesteela or the Ferrothorn on the switch in with it.

I was extremely satisfied with Dusk Mane's performance during the competition, and being the core of the team I just brought it all the 40 battles I played.

regielekki.png

I love this thing as a screener because it's stupid fast and it can deal quite the damage even if uninvested.
Moveset is quite straightforward with screens + tbolt + explosion, and the spread was the one I came up with during my battles on the regular singles ladder.
Timid with 100 EVs outspeeds +1 spe 252 Timid Nihilego, HP and Def investment means that I never die to scarf Adamant Close Combat from Pheromosa and has decent chance to survive the uncommon HJK:

252+ Atk Pheromosa Close Combat vs. 164 HP / 236 Def Regieleki: 141-166 (80.1 - 94.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Pheromosa High Jump Kick vs. 164 HP / 236 Def Regieleki: 153-180 (86.9 - 102.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

So I can always immediately click tbolt against Pheromosa and barring priorities in the back still set up a screen afterwards.

This investment also gave me a good chance to not die from Adamant 252 Band Grassy Glide from Rillaboom:

252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 164 HP / 236 Def Regieleki in Grassy Terrain: 150-177 (85.2 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

and most of the time set up the adequate screen in front of Rilla, and setup with the Necrozma switch in afterwards. I encountered a lot of Band Rillaboom on the ladder: people respect Kyogre a lot huh?

As expected, Regieleki did his job very well, and it even killed an Yveltal in one battle.

I brought Eleki every single time I wasn't against some sort of stall.

dittone.png

Not much to say about this little monster: it's stupidly strong in a singles meta with ubers.
I used it quite a lot, especially vs the Zacian matchup. Ditto copying Zacian was one of the most broken things to do in the competition: getting the originary +1 atk and on top of that getting another one for the ability proc was insane.

goth.png

This was my response to defensive/stall cores, Quagsire, and some other things, and quite the effective one it was.
As i said before Quagsire could be a problem, and even with Max Phantasm from Necrozma Celesteela & Friends were not optimal matchups for my Dusk Mane.
Gothitelle was something I used in order to respond to all that things. It turned out to be crucial.
I encountered quite a lot of these defensive matchups, in particular one specific team that seemed to be very very popular, with Chansey/Defensive Celesteela/Cosmic Power Eternatus. Gothitelle neutered them very well. I trapped some Eternatus and made them quit, I trapped a lot of Celesteela crippling them with Trick and rendering them useless against Necrozma, and all of this enabled the Necrozma sweep very consistently.
The spread was made in a hurry because Goth was a last minute change in the team, but the basic idea was to speed creep some versions of Corviknight/Celesteela, trying to be the most offensive possible in order to dispose of things in a swift manner (and netting a solid 2HKO on that defensive Eternatus after setup) while also having a decent hp investment. Worked like a charm. I used Goth a lot especially on the high ladder during day 3 (I actually never used it on day one thinking about it).

swamp.png

This slot had two roles: setting up rocks against some teams (and it was good against opposing elekis leads) and tanking insane hits killing back with counter or mirror coat, especially tanking my own Necrozma hit if the opposing Ditto copied me and screens were not enough to stop it.
Overall I didn't use Stealth Rocks much, because in a lot of occasions they simply were not needed, but this Swampert saved me from opposing Ditto reverse sweeps a lot of times.
It came in clutch quite a lot even outside of the Ditto scenarios, my favourite one being tanking a banded Grassy Glide with sash and killing back in return.
The defense EVs are there to tank opposing Ditto copying my Necrozma in the most effective way, even with sash broken by rocks.

gmaxlapr.png

Lapras was used very rarely as an alternative lead with G-Max Resonance, and most of the time as its secondary role: having another option to oneshot Quagsire and providing another win condition against defensive/stall configurations with a well aimed Sheer Cold.
Originally I wanted Lapras also for his ability to counter baton pass leads that tried to substitute with Sparkling Aria, but this never happened in the entire 40 battles. Still, I had the option.
This was the less used Pokémon in the entire competition, but I appreciated the additional option against some defensive responses to my Necrozma.


Overall I had a ton of fun in this competition, and it was some appreciated fresh air for me, playing so much regular BSS on the cartridge ladder.

I just love using ubers and seeing how other players try to enable them!
 
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