Luigi De Filpo’s Lille Team Report
A note from our Editor:
Since Ryan launched Devon Corp last year, and brought me on as one of the first writers, then later promoting me to managing editor some time after, I knew this site would become a home for those passionate about Pokemon to tell their stories. There are plenty of VGC sites out there that simply report the stats, the results, the spreads, the teams, the names, and all the other numbers. But we at Devon Corp found a niche to fill. We give players, competitors, commentators, champions, masters of the game, and even people just starting out a voice. We put a face and words to those numbers, and there is no story too small that we won’t help polish and publish to the masses. I had the pleasure of editing Luigi De Filpo’s team report, and behind his team you get to know him through his thought process, his reasonings, and a touch of his personality. With a team as unique as his, from the Tentacruel , to the Krookodile, you find out that some overlooked Pokemon have a niche to fill. Congratulations to Luigi making top 256 at Lille, and to all the players there who gave it their very best. I hope you enjoy what Luigi has to offer, and if you feel compelled to tell your story, as unsung as it may be, reach out to us, and we will share it with the world.
Marco
Managing Editor for Devon Corp Press
I am Luigi De Filpo, and I’ve been playing competitively since the end of XY.
I started playing more just when ORAS came out. I started off as a singles player, but later on I moved to VGC. I played in a couple of locals in 2017 and in 2019, but then I dropped. I restarted playing in 2024, I played in 2 locals and in my first major, the EUIC, where I ended up 6-3. I played in the Bologna special event where I ended up 5-4. And now Lille’s regional where I ended up 5-3!
The Journey
It all started when my friend Luca asked me to go to London with him. He told me he wanted to play Pokemon competitively again and that he was happy to do it with someone. I never attended big Pokemon tournaments, so I said: Why not? EUIC 2024 has been wonderful! In a moment I knew I had to attend more tours. I attended Bologna’s special event 2024 and now Lille. The most satisfying part of this game for me is building teams. I love to try various combinations to find the perfect composition, or at least a composition that works. I’m not an enthusiast of weird strategies such as Spicy Extract, Mirror Herb, or Skill Swap Intimidate. I like to build teams such that every combination has some synergy. Moreover, I’m in love with Trick Rooms and Weather based teams, mostly suns and hails. One of the best part of the Lille tournament has been the building process of the team. I spent much more time for Lille with respect to EUIC and Bologna, and I believe I saw a difference. My permanence in Lille has been great thanks to my roommates. I got to know new people, and I had much fun spending time with them. In the end, for a casual player, the best part of attending a tournament is to meet people that share the same passion, and I believe I succeeded!
Back to the team...
Thought process
As I saw Typhlosion-Hisui was available in this meta, I couldn’t resist eruption spamming my way through the games. The first core I tried was Typhlosion-Hisui, Whimsicott, and Torkoal. Rain was a problem and dragons were all around, so I quickly gave up. I still wanted to click a strong spread move through my games: Blizzard spam. Firstly, I used Ninetales-alola and specs Glaceon. I wasn’t satisfied at all, so I tried Frosmoth. But still, the problem was that Ninetales was useless most of the times. Aurora Veil on paper is very strong, but I felt like the meta was too fast for me to lose a turn. The problem was that Ninetales was a useless supporter, so I thought: Let’s try specs Ninetales alone.
Specs Alolan-Ninetales is a strong Dragon killer. The typing right now is very strong as it is immune to Dragon type moves and has a stab Ice type move that hits basically everything neutrally.
The problems that Ninetales had to face were:
• Water types such as Primarina,
• Fire types such as Magmar, Incineroar and Tera-Fire types,
• Steel types such as Gholdengo.
I needed a Water type to hit Fire types that also hit Primarina and that could switch in on Make It Rain. As odd as it may sound, Tentacruel fits perfectly.
There are many water types available, but the point is that I really needed one single Pokemon that covered all the points above. The added pros are that
• hits Whimsicott that changes the weather,
• with muddy water, the double spread move helps ignore follow me and rage powder,
• helps in the rain match up.
Now the composition has two special hitters. Moreover, Tentacruel is weak to Psy-spams and has a poor defense stat. Lastly, Tentacruel enters on Make It Rain but isn’t a real answer to Gholdengo as it deals little damage. I needed a Dark intimidate physical Pokemon that checked Gholdengo.
Here comes Krookodile!
Incineroar seemed to be the best choice actually, but I really needed a faster mon than Gholdengo since Ninetales is specs and I can’t protect. At this point in the meta, Garchomp and Dragonite are a serious threat and I wanted to feel more comfortable against a composition such as Garchomp, Dragonite, Ninetales-alola, Amoonguss, Incineroar and Kingambit. Moreover, Ursaluna and Trick Room are still a problem since the team at the moment is quite fast. The Pokemon needed to be strong enough to resist Sneasler, and Garchomp as a lead and kill them both in revenge. I wanted to try Avalugg. At first I tried Avalugg-Hisui with the air balloon. But early on I noticed that Avalugg non-Hisui was better.
Even if it seems a meme choice, and maybe at first it was, game after game it worked. The defense stat balances the weak physical defense of Tentacruel. Avalugg naturally isn’t bothered by any ground hitters and thanks to wide guard helps against Make it Rain and Eruption specs by Typhlosion. Lastly, Avalugg helps against Basculegion in rain. I noticed early that Ninetales-Alola and Avalugg was, weirdly as is sounds, the correct lead against Sneasler and Garchomp.
At this point, rain was still a problem. I had switch-ins but no real checks. I needed a Pokemon that was actually very comfortable in rain. Here comes the main opponent’s rain abuser, Archaludon.
• Thanks to the steel type, it was another switch in on Make it Rain,
• The steel type helps against Hurricane,
• Electro Shot killed Basculegion in rain.
The last piece of the team was, as always, hard to find. At first I thought Zoroark (non-Hisui), since a Snarl was useful and another way to fight Psy-spam.
The problem was that the specs was already in use, and Zoroark is not that strong in general. Illusion was useful, but with Snow Warning and Intimidate I had limited selections of disguises. If you can’t beat them, join them. I tried Armarouge to fight the Psy-spam.
The team had little speed control, Trick Room on Armarouge helped, but the team was really not comfortable under Trick Room. I considered then a Pokemon that helped with spore, say Breloom.
It was really cool to play with Breloom, but Gholdengo was again a problem since Breloom had no way of hitting it. Also again, no speed control. Then I remembered the existence of Flamigo.
• Had speed control,
• hit Gholdengo,
• helped against Volcarona and Annihilape.
The team looked ready.
The Sets
The sets were the key to the stability. I knew I needed to put effort in finding the right combination of Tera types, items and moves to check all the remaining problems.
Ninetales-Alola
It all began with specs Ninetales, so specs it is. Blizzard is mandatory, as Freeze Dry. Moonblast seemed a good choice to hit Fighting types such as Annihilape and Gallade. The last move was at first Aurora Veil: the dead move you click only in desperate situations.
So the set was:
Ninetales-Alola @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Warning
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 60 Def / 196 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Moonblast
- Aurora Veil
Some useful calcs are:
• 252 Atk Sneasler Dire Claw vs. 0 HP / 60 Def Ninetales-Alola in Snow: 108-128 (72.9 - 86.4%)
– guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Sneasler Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 60 Def Ninetales-Alola in Snow: 18-22 (12.1 - 14.8%)
– possible 7HKO
Tera-Ghost helps against Fake Outs.
Tentacruel
The only two water moves Tentacruel gets are Muddy Water and Hydro Pump. As said before, Muddy Water it’s useful against redirectors, so Muddy Water it is. Sludge Bomb is mandatory and the last move was Haze.
Tentacruel @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Sludge Bomb
- Haze
- Protect
Tentacruel is 252+ Speed because it needs to get use of it’s massive speed stat. Tera-Stellar was to get a stab boost on both of it’s STABs and I never thought Tentacruel as a Pokemon that resisted that many turns on the field.
Krookodile
Since I was scared of Trick Room, besides the STABs High Horsepower and Knock Off, I used Taunt. Stomping Tantrum was too weak, and I’d rather have 95% Accuracy rather than 20 less base power.
Krookodile @ Clear Amulet
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 220 Atk / 36 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Horsepower
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Protect
The Tera-Flying was to take Fighting moves and be immune to Garchomp’s Ground moves.
Some calcs are:
• 220 Atk Krookodile High Horsepower vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Eviolite Magmar: 104-126 (60.4 - 73.2%)
– guaranteed 2HKO
• 220 Atk Krookodile High Horsepower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 138-164 (66.6 - 79.2%)
– guaranteed 2HKO
Avalugg
The main character joins the battle. At first the set was:
Avalugg-Hisui @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Ice Spinner
- Body Press
- Wide Guard
- Protect
But early on I noticed that the double weakness to Fighting and Steel, and the weakness to Ground wasn’t worth the neutral damage from Fire. Moreover, since I didn’t need the Air Balloon anymore I decided to try the Loaded Dice. Icicle Spear is a 100bp multi-hit move with the dice, much stronger than Ice Spinner
Avalugg @ Loaded Dice
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 180 HP / 76 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Body Press
- Wide Guard
- Protect
Some useful calcs:
• 72 Atk Avalugg Icicle Spear (4 hits) vs. -1 4 HP / 0 Def Sneasler: 160-192 (102.5 - 123%)
– guaranteed OHKO
• 252 Atk Sneasler Close Combat vs. 180 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg in Snow: 66-78 (34.1 - 40.4%)
– guaranteed 3HKO
• 252 Atk Life Orb Garchomp Stomping Tantrum vs. 180 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg in Snow:
27-32 (13.9 - 16.5%)
– possible 7HKO
• 252+ Atk Kingambit Iron Head vs. 180 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg in Snow: 50-60 (25.9 - 31%)
– guaranteed 4HKO
• 60+ Atk Incineroar Flare Blitz vs. 180 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg in Snow: 56-68 (29 - 35.2%)
– 13.7% chance to 3HKO
• 252+ Atk Dragonite Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 180 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg in Snow: 48-58 (24.8 - 30%)
– 99.9% chance to 4HKO
Archaludon
I needed Archaludon to check rain teams. I thought of Assault Vest, but I really wanted Protect. I wanted to try Sitrus Berry in order to resist more turns on the field. I believe Stamina works effectively with the berry. The moves are pretty standard.
Archaludon @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Stamina
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 108 SpA / 140 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flash Cannon
- Body Press
- Protect
The Tera type is Grass so it can avoid Rage Powder and Spore.
Flamigo
Lastly, Flamigo. I saw people used Tera-Stellar Flamigo, and since I love the Stellar tera type I had to try it.
Flamigo @ Focus Sash
Ability: Scrappy
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 24 SpA
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- Tailwind
- Protect
Tailwind rather than Wide Guard both for Speed control and because I already had Wide Guard on Avalugg. I chose Brave Bird over Dual Wingbeat because of it’s 90% accuracy.
The following situations came up many times, so I believe it’s important to write the damage calc down:
• 252 Atk Sneasler Dire Claw vs. -1 4 HP / 0 Def Tera Ghost Flamigo: 66-78 (41.7 - 49.3%)
– guaranteed 3HKO
Moreover, the match-up against Archaludon
• 252 Atk Flamigo Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Archaludon: 152-180 (77.1 - 91.3%)
– guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Flamigo Close Combat vs. +1 252 HP / 4 Def Archaludon: 102-122 (51.7 - 61.9%)
– guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Flamigo Close Combat vs. +2 252 HP / 4 Def Archaludon: 78-92 (39.5 - 46.7%)
– guaranteed 3HKO
• 252 Atk Flamigo Close Combat vs. +3 252 HP / 4 Def Archaludon: 62-74 (31.4 - 37.5%)
– 80.9% chance to 3HKO
Final Adjustments
Playing I found the following problems:
• Ninetales couldn’t hit Gholdengo in any way
• Tentacruel couldn’t hit Archaludon in any way
• I never clicked Taunt on Krookodile since Knock Off was way too appetinzing on Porygon 2 every time
• Avalugg was too perfect as it was
• Archaludon couldn’t hit Basculegion
• Flamigo was too weak to fake outs and didn’t need the Tera-Stellar to do damages
Hence, the following corrections:
Ninetales-Alola @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Warning
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 60 Def / 196 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Moonblast
- Dark Pulse
Tentacruel @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Sludge Bomb
- Tera Blast
- Protect
Krookodile @ Clear Amulet
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 220 Atk / 36 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Horsepower
- Knock Off
- Scale Shot
- Protect
Avalugg @ Loaded Dice
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 180 HP / 76 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Body Press
- Wide Guard
- Protect
Archaludon @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Stamina
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 108 SpA / 140 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Electro Shot
- Flash Cannon
- Body Press
- Protect
Flamigo @ Focus Sash
Ability: Scrappy
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 24 SpA
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- Tailwind
- Protect
Some corrections may seem random, but I believe there were more pros than cons.
• Dark Pulse on Ninetales is a last resort move to hit Gholdengo, Typhlosion-Hisui and to fish for some flinches if really needed.
• Tera Blast Tera-Ground Tentacruel doesn’t hit strongly neither Archaludon nor Gholdengo, but surely was stronger than the other moves. Haze was not as useful as I didn’t see as much Dondozo’s as before.
• Krookodile needed speed and Scale Shot provided it. I believe it’s a very useful tech on Krookodile. The team was way too fast to use Taunt.
• Dragon STABless and Electro Shot without rain are two of the most controversial choices of this team. I believe Draco Meteor, useful as it is, didn’t match the pace of this Archaludon.
Electro Shot in rain is really strong, and it is a win win situations:
either my rain team opponent plays without rain, or I have a single turn Electro Shot on Archaludon,
• Flamigo’s Ghost tera type is actually quite common.
Conclusion
Even if it seems a “farfetch’d” team with odd and bizarre choices, every move had a reason. The team is far from being perfect, but it’s fun without being inconclusive. I am happy to share it for people to have fun. I am a casual competitive player, and I believe the morale of this experience is exactly the following. The fun part of playing a match with uncommon stuff is seeing the team work. There are many more Pokemon out there that have a niche to be played. Creativity is key. Just wait, don’t overdo it, be patient and the moment will come! ∼ Avalugg
Disclaimer: The opinions/stories expressed in the blog post are those of the author's and not necessarily reflective of the platform or its affiliates.