Discovering the Mesozoic Mushroom: A Regulation G Team Report
Hello everyone! My name is Sam Pletcher, and I recently finished Top 8 at the Atlanta Regional Championships. I’ve wanted to write a team report for a while now, as teambuilding is one of my favorite aspects of VGC, so I’m going to take advantage of finally coming off a run worthy of a write-up. This team report will hopefully serve as a window throughout my Regulation G teambuilding process, during which I attended four major events: NAIC 2024 (10-5, T64), Worlds 2024 (5-3, T256), the 2025 San Juan Special Event (7-2, T16), and the 2025 Atlanta Regionals (11-3, T8). This has easily been my best stretch in terms of results, as I’m a relatively new player whose previous high-water mark was a Top 32 at the San Antonio Regionals in 2023. I attribute my recent success to identifying a strong core and becoming comfortable piloting it, while also being open to making meta-relevant adjustments.
The Starting Point: Koraidon
Why did I start with Koraidon? The real answer is that I’m a dinosaur nerd and I couldn’t resist centering my team around a menacing dino-Pokemon that was rescued from extinction (and canonically went on a murderous rampage soon after). Competitively speaking, though, Koraidon is fantastic against the most common balance core in the game. It annihilates Balance BrosTM Incineroar and Rillaboom (and Amoonguss), forcing them to Tera or get OHKO’d. It also summons Sun, which is one of the only effects capable of weakening Urshifu’s Surging Strikes. It is impossible to overstate how nice this is: you threaten bulky balance staples with OHKOs, and weaken the most spammable move in the game just by entering battle.
Summoning sun allows Koraidon to set itself apart from most Restricteds by allowing it to passively support its own teammates. This presents clear opportunities for teambuilding synergy, especially with the plethora of Protosynthesis abusers introduced in Gen 9. Obvious choices include Raging Bolt (an already top-tier stat block that becomes Miraidon-lite plus priority), Flutter Mane (Regieleki who?), and Chi-Yu (insert obligatory Choice Specs Tera Fire Beads of Ruin Overheat in Sun calc here). But plenty of other Pokemon become compelling pieces once equipped with a Protosynthesis or Chlorophyll boost, a newfound Water resistance, or Sun-enhanced recovery. Of course, opponents can take advantage of Sun as well, and therein lies a major challenge with building Koraidon.
Koraidon has a long list of downsides that need to be covered for by its teammates. Its 4x weakness to Fairy moves requires it to Tera in many situations, such as facing an opposing Flutter Mane that will always be faster thanks to Protosynthesis. Its strongest attack, Flare Blitz, comes with recoil and is reliant on Tera to reach full power; this hampers Koraidon’s longevity and makes it somewhat of a Tera hog. It’s stuck in a crowded speed tier with Miraidon and Chien-Pao, so the vast majority of Calyrex-Shadow-Rider and Zacian will outspeed it. It’s uniquely hampered by Rain, so splashable support Pokemon like Tornadus and Pelipper can be problematic. Finally, it has a very difficult time matching up against Calyrex-Ice-Rider, a top-tier Restricted with godly physical bulk and spread Ice damage that can set up Trick Room to flip speed tiers.
1st Edition: NAIC - Koraidon, Take 1
My first go-round building with Koraidon was for NAIC. I prioritized offensive synergy, looking for a special attacker that could punish Fairy- and Ghost- types that might try and sponge Collision Courses. I settled on Nasty Plot Gholdengo, then added Rillaboom for Fake Out support and damage into Water types. Grassy Seed and Tera Water on Gholdengo stomped on early versions of CIR Balance, which was everywhere at the time. Flutter Mane was an easy addition for its elite speed control, and it was free to hold Focus Sash instead of Booster Energy.
My last two teammates were some of those niche Sun-loving teammates that I alluded to. Umbreon is very difficult to remove with boosted Moonlight recovery. Its job was to annoy both Calyrex forms while ignoring Fake Out and Rage Powder support. Sandy Shocks was my 6th mon, and it dominated the Miraidon matchup while threatening to outspeed and OHKO enemy Tornadus. It was surprisingly vital into Kyogre (hence the Tera Water) and dealt great damage to Raging Bolt and bulky Tera Fire Pokemon. For a more thorough explanation of my NAIC team, check out the team report video I made with CloverBells after the event.
NAIC was my breakout event - I went 8-1 in Day 1 and clinched my Worlds invite for the 2024 season in the process. But in Day 2, I began to see some cracks in my team as I faced the stiffest of competition. Eduardo Cunha did to me what Alex Gomez did the day before, outmaneuvering me with Covert Cloak CSR + Smeargle balance. They exposed my Umbreon as a mere nuisance rather than a counter, and the rest of my team couldn’t stand up to boosted Astral Barrages. Cedric Bernier and Juan Salerno brought newer CIR builds that included Raging Bolt and Urshifu-Dark. These adjustments nullified my Gholdengo mode and made the matchup much more difficult.
2nd Edition: Worlds - Enter Brute Bonnet
I focused on patching up my CSR matchup going into Worlds. Umbreon was a neat idea, but Yawn conceded a little too much breathing room (especially with Sun turns always on a timer), and the pivot-heavy nature of balance afforded a drowsy Calyrex plenty of outs. Replacing Umbreon with Incineroar gave the team a little more dynamism, but it still couldn’t directly threaten a Tera’d CSR. The answer came to me in a Dark type that could directly inflict 100% accurate sleep, ignore Rage Powder, and boost its bulk when paired with Koraidon.
I made some quick adjustments to mold the team around Brute Bonnet. Rillaboom was out, since stacking Grasses made me even weaker to CIR. Freeing up the Assault Vest item slot let me change Sandy Shocks to Raging Bolt, an objectively better Pokemon that replaced the priority of Grassy Glide. I kept Incineroar for Fake Out and the Ice and Ghost resistances. Gholdengo stayed, but Grassy Seed became Leftovers. I was hooked after just a few practice games and decided to lock in the team. Given more time I might have decided on a better Tera type for Brute Bonnet (Fairy hard-walled Urshifu but let Zamazenta pin me) or realized that the Incin slot needed more offensive punch. But the inherent strength of Koraidon + Brute Bonnet helped mask these flaws.
The duo came to every single game I played at Worlds. I played one CSR and two Lunala, which were my three smoothest wins of the day. Bonnet also helped me beat the two CIR I faced, gifting me a win via sleep turns against balance in one and disrupting hard TR in the other. Although I lost my win-and-in on Game 3 to the aforementioned Zamazenta pin against Diego Gutierrez, going 5-3 at Worlds with a half-baked team made it clear to me that I had something worth building on when Regulation G returned.
3rd Edition: San Juan - Koraidon-Bonnet v2.0
I decided against chasing a 2025 Worlds invite, so I attended significantly fewer events. My first shot at Regulation G’s second edition came at the San Juan Special Event in February, and I knew I wanted to return to the core four of Koraidon, Brute Bonnet, Flutter Mane, and Raging Bolt that carried me at Worlds. I bailed on Gholdengo because Ogerpon-Hearthflame was the new best partner for CIR, popularized by the Tangs in San Antonio, and Gholdengo had no matchup there. Instead, I wanted a more offensive piece that threatened a few problematic enemies: both Calyrex forms, Tornadus, Landorus, and Raging Bolt. Chien-Pao accomplished this while increasing Koraidon’s damage output to scary levels and still punishing Tera Ghosts. Adamant Chien-Pao next to Jolly Koraidon gave me decent pressure into opposing Ogerpon-CIR leads and another option into Miraidon builds.
To round out my 6 I looked for a Fairy resist that could frustrate CIR. Meteor Beam Armarouge set itself apart after some testing. Wide Guard gave me a defensive weapon into both Calyrex, and +1 Armor Cannon in Sun did massive damage. With Focus Sash now committed to Chien-Pao, I gave Flutter Mane a Life Orb to try and fulfill the roles of both Speed control and damage dealer. Substitute was a neat concept - I was already throwing away Flutter’s HP, and it was going to move first 90% of the time, so a pseudo-Protect that could punish defensive play seemed useful. It won me a couple of games, but I’m not sure whether it was truly the correct option. It was fun though!
I started my Puerto Rico run 3-0 after winning Round 1 against an opponent without a Restricted, beating a strong Zama-Pao comp with Dragonite and Scream Tail, and 2-0ing Vijay Sood’s signature Terapagos team. My first loss came against Eric Bush using Zamazenta balance with Pelipper, which made it a challenge to get off the big Fire damage I needed. It was a very close set that came down to a Raging Bolt speed tie in Game 3. I bounced back against Terapagos balance in Round 5, then finished the day 5-1 with a win against my good friend and New England local Chase Matteo. He used the Kyogre team that he, Stefan Mott, and Anthony Londergan had lots of success with. I’m plugging their Team Report here since they’re all incredible players who have taught me so much about the game!
Day 2 started with a win against another strong New England local in Yichun Wu, who brought the TailRoom CIR team that he worked with the Tangs on. This secured my place in top cut, and I secured a top seed (but couldn’t snag a bye) by winning my Round 8 against a bulky Miraidon. This seeding worked to my disadvantage as I paired into NAIC champion Patrick Connors in Top 16. His refurbished team featured his Pelipper next to Tera Poison CIR and Amoonguss, which was honestly a nightmare matchup. I made some nice plays early on but he adjusted well and took the set in three games, ending my run. Puerto Rico was my first ever Top Cut, and I was excited to finish with a strong placement, but I had a feeling there was another level that I could hit with my team if I could figure out a way around Pelipper.
4th Edition: Atlanta - Hit the Gas
EUIC and Stockholm Regionals took place between Puerto Rico and Atlanta, and I worried the results would make the metagame more hostile to my build. Koraidon was no longer a sleeper pick, which tends to happen when the GOAT wins an International title with the Pokémon. More worrisome to me personally was that another influential player finished Top 4 at a Regional with Koraidon and Brute Bonnet together. Jamie Boyt discovered the pair around the same time as me, being one of only two other players to bring it to Worlds, and piloted his developed version of the team to the podium in Stockholm. The team Jamie lost to, Michael Kelsch’s Smeargle-CIR hard TR, was also hostile to Koraidon. And what splashable utility Pokémon matched up well into both compositions? Pelipper, of course.
I found inspiration against these trends in the top cut of EUIC, where Spaniard Victor Jimenez Coll reached Top Cut by pairing Koraidon with Galarian Weezing. I tried out variations of his build but came to the realization that I’m not a Dondozo player. I decided to surround Koraidon and Weezing with my Brute Bonnet core, and began to find success. Weezing nullified so many abilities that hinder Koraidon: Intimidate, Drizzle, Prankster, opposing Protosynthesis, Sword of Ruin, Sturdy, Dauntless Shield, Hadron Engine, the list goes on. Safety Goggles and Taunt shut down Tera Amoonguss, while Will-O-Wisp ruined any CIR that weren’t Tera Fire. The rest of the team let me play Proto-spam against teams that didn’t have a strong answer for it. The five of Koraidon, Bonnet, Weezing, Flutter, and Bolt did need some support against CSR balance, so I slapped on Scarf Chi-Yu to round things out. I put very little thought into this choice but it ended up being invaluable, and I wish I had considered it earlier.
My Atlanta Run:
R1 vs Sheldon Owens (WW)
As we waited to start Round 1, Matt Bruno, who was at the table next to me and Sheldon, said that he couldn’t wait to see my reaction to the team I was about to face. I reckon I made a pretty good one when we exchanged teamsheets. Sheldon’s Koraidon was Tera Steel with Bulk Up and Drain Punch, and he supported it with Ting-Lu, AV Tinkaton, Araquanid, and Intimidate Squawkabilly. Fortunately for me, the Tera choice on Koraidon let me pin it with Flutter Mane and my own Koraidon, and the Squawkabilly needed so much bulk investment that it was slower than my Raging Bolt. My team was able to distribute more damage much more quickly, which led to a rather comfortable 2-0.
R2 vs Bryce Hosaflook (WW)
My first Pelipper matchup came on CSR balance with Scarf Landorus. Those two made it difficult to bring Weezing, so I had to rely on teammates to do damage while saving Koraidon for weather control. It helped that Brute Bonnet outsped Bryce’s Pelipper, which meant I could be more aggressive switching Koraidon around. My double darks made his Giga Drain CSR uncomfortable all game while Raging Bolt kept pressure on his Water types. I played from ahead and won 2-0.
R3 vs Kieran Roopchan (WW)
Kieran ran a modified version of former New England legend Dawei Si’s San Antonio CSR team with Ting-Lu and Dondozo. Brute Bonnet shut this combination down hard and forced him to rely on Ogerpon-Hearthflame, which made his gameplan relatively predictable. Running Iron Hands over Urshifu made Fighting coverage more usable in the matchup, but it wasn’t enough to move the needle and keep me from a third 2-0 victory to start the day.
R4 vs Gavin Michaels (LWW)
One fun aspect of playing late-format tournaments is that you run into people who created teams that had an outsized impact in the metagame. You may have played against a team dozens of times, but it’s a different beast to play the person who developed it and truly understands it. Gavin brought the team he used to Top 8 EUIC, a team that I believed I had a strong matchup into. I forced his Iron Hands to Tera early in Game 1, had late-game Koraidon ready to clean… and lost. I caught him on lead in Game 2, bringing Weezing into his Chien-Pao and Amoonguss, and burned him as he clicked Tera Stellar Turn 1. I rode my early lead to a win, bringing up Game 3. He identified the importance of Taunting my Weezing and jumped ahead early, putting me into a 2v4 disadvantage. Fortunately, my 2 were Koraidon and Weezing, and I denied his Amoonguss and Tornadus support by Taunting switchins while dealing big damage to the partner slots with Koraidon. In a tight endgame, he failed a double Protect with his Kyogre while trying to stall Taunt turns on his Torn, which secured me the comeback win.
R5 vs Diego Chan (WW)
Diego was my third CSR matchup of the day, and he ran a PsySpam balance composition with Indeedee-Female, Amoonguss, and Roaring Moon. He brought the four of CSR, Indeedee, Incineroar, and Moon to both of our matches. None of them could deal meaningful damage to Dark types: Incineroar ran Will-o-Wisp over Flare Blitz, and Roaring Moon couldn’t consume its Booster Energy to power up Acrobatics because Sun was up. I rode Brute Bonnet and Chi-Yu to a comfortable 2-0.
R6 vs Patrick Connors (WLW)
What I said in my section about Gavin regarding facing the architect of an impactful team absolutely applies to Patrick here. I changed my team around to improve my CIR-Pelipper matchup, and it worked in testing, but here I was facing the pioneer of the archetype in a rematch from Puerto Rico. His team was nearly identical, except that he swapped Amoonguss for Ogerpon-Cornerstone. I took Game 1 thanks to my new Brute Bonnet spread, which I changed to be faster and more physically defensive than the one I ran in PR. I don’t think Patrick expected it to outspeed Pelipper and to take a Close Combat from Urshifu, both of which happened. Just like in Puerto Rico, though, he adapted to play through Tera Poison CIR in Game 2 and won comfortably. Game 3 was another nailbiter, and I pulled it off thanks to some favorable Sleep RNG stalling his CIR and Pelipper out of Trick Room turns. Patrick was very gracious about it and congratulated me on locking in Day 2 at 6-0.
R7 vs Zee Costagliola (LWL)
My first ever official Stream match came against Zee, who ran Shohei Kimura’s adaptation of the Worlds-winning Arubega team. Aaron Zheng’s excellent commentary highlighted the two changes that made my matchup into the team much more challenging: Focus Sash on Whimsicott and Tera Water on Iron Hands. Changing Brute Bonnet to physically defensive instead of specially also made things harder for me, as it could now be OHKO’d by Miraidon. I got rolled in Game 1 while trying an ill-advised Weezing angle, so I switched to Bonnet lead with Bolt in the back for Game 2. I still wasn’t sharp enough with my damage trades but got bailed out by a Draco Meteor crit into Ogerpon through Light Screen. Game 3 came down to a couple of clutch survivals. First, my Raging Bolt took a Helping Hand Quark Drive Low Kick from Iron Hands. This calc came up in testing, and I initially EV’d to survive the hit cleanly. I later decided this was too much investment for a niche scenario, so I lowered the investment to give myself about a 20% chance of survival. I got the roll, but their Ogerpon returned the favor by dramatically taking 2 Draco Meteors and a Thunderclap (all outside of Sun) to seal the win.
R8 vs Christopher Han (LWL)
If I could have one set back from my tournament, it would be this one. I was coming off an emotional stream game and had already locked Day 2, and I felt myself succumbing to the late-round fade. Christopher was running the same six as Gavin and I felt like I knew what I had to do to win the matchup. Game 1 should’ve been a wake-up call after I lost convincingly to his Chien-Pao and Urshifu lead, but I adjusted and won Game 2 by leaning into Weezing’s disruption. Christopher recognized the importance of Taunting Weezing in Game 3 just like Gavin did, but this time I wasn’t on my game enough to punish him for it. I missed a chance to KO Tornadus early by clicking Thunderbolt instead of Thunderclap, and things spiraled from there. All credit to Christopher for keeping his foot on the gas and playing well. I ended Day 1 at 6-2, a fine finish but mildly disappointing after a 6-0 start.
R9 vs Caelan Brown (WLW)
My first match of Day 2 was against Wolfe Glick’s Koraidon Perish-Trap team. Caelan recognized that he had to try and match my damage output, since Perish Trap mode was ineffective against lead combos involving Weezing or Flutter Mane, so he led Flutter Mane + Koraidon all three games. I won the Koraidon damage trade and took Game 1 cleanly, so I tried to win Game 2 off the rip by risking the Flutter Mane speed tie. I didn’t get it and wasn’t able to preserve enough damage for his Incineroar and Amoonguss in the back. Game 3 I made a risky read, Protecting Koraidon next to my AV Raging Bolt. It paid off as he doubled into my Koraidon while I sniped his Koraidon with Draco Meteor, and from there my Tera Fire Koraidon had a clean win.
R10 vs Rowan Hall (LWW)
Rowan ran a Giga Drain CSR team that had double redirection with Smeargle and Clefairy. He went all-in on CSR damage, leading it next to Rillaboom and bringing his Follow Me mons in the back every game. In Game 1 I wasn’t able to position my Chi-Yu correctly and it was neutralized by his Smeargle, which had Follow Me and Wide Guard in addition to the requisite Focus Sash. I adjusted in Game 2 by leading Chi-Yu next to Koraidon and was able to OHKO both his Rillaboom and his CSR on the same turn, which ended the game on the spot. Game 3 came down to what seemed to be a 50-50: his Rillaboom next to a +2 CSR with all my mons in Astral Barrage range against my Speed Boosted Koraidon at 60-ish HP. I got the read wrong and clicked Flare Blitz into the Protecting CSR, but I survived the Wood Hammer with about a dozen HP left, and Grassy Terrain expired after that turn. His double Protect failed, I blew up the horse, and I advanced to my win-and-in for Top Cut.
R11 vs Case Bongirne (WW)
I got the up-pair into Case, who started the tournament 9-0 and had already guaranteed his spot in Top Cut. He brought a Specs Terapagos build that I found my gameplan into almost immediately: lead Chi-Yu next to Koraidon, click Heat Wave, and switch Koraidon to Weezing to keep Sun on the field. He was forced to Follow Me to protect Terapagos from Koraidon, so there was very little he could do if I hit my Heat Waves. Whimsicott and Landorus in the back forced me to be careful with my Tera usage, but Tera Bug Raging Bolt was rather safe at that point. I clicked Overheat in Game 2, which OHKO’d the Ogerpon and left Terapagos vulnerable to a Collision Course. It was a quick 2-0, and I got the feeling that Case was saving any adjustments in case we met again since his down-pair into me meant that a bye was unlikely. I wasn’t complaining, and secured a Top Cut of my own with a 9-2 record in Swiss.
T32 vs Will Inabinet (WW)
If I wasn’t Will’s worst matchup of the tournament, I would love to know who was. He combined two reliable bulky cores with Ting-Lu + Dondozo and Zamazenta + Chien-Pao, then chose Flutter Mane and Rillaboom to round out his 6. Tera Fire Koraidon and Weezing covered almost anything he could throw at me, and Brute Bonnet threatened to give me free turns in case he tried to slow things down with Ting-Lu and Dozo. I had plenty of margin for error throughout the matchup and won comfortably 2-0 despite his strong play.
T16 vs Case Bongirne (LWW)
Unsurprisingly, Case changed up his gameplan for our rematch. He led Whimsicott and Landorus with Terapagos and Ogerpon in the back, burning Tera on Whimsicott to guarantee a Tailwind in the face of a possible Weezing switch-in. He got enough damage off in Tailwind by double-connecting a Sandsear Storm to win Game 1, so I adjusted by leading Raging Bolt in Game 2 since it could eat an Earth Power and retaliate with a Protosynthesis Draco Meteor. I made it through Tailwind and cleaned up with Chi-Yu, which brought on Game 3 and a surprise Trick Room mode. I whiffed my T1 Heat Wave into his Ogerpon, which made things very close as we figured speed tiers under Trick Room. I was able to chunk his Terapagos under Trick Room with my faster-under-TR Raging Bolt, which put it in range of a Sun-boosted Heat Wave in the endgame. I had to connect Heat Wave on at least one of his Terapagos or Landorus to secure the win, and I felt like MDB when I hit both and punched my ticket to Top 8.
T8 vs Joey Woodring (LWL)
Joey’s Top 16 match against Leonard Craft III was on stream, and I rooted for Joey because I wanted to dodge the Ability Shield Tornadus with Rain Dance next to Tera Fairy Lunala. Joey won, and I found myself in a Koraidon-Brute Bonnet mirror instead. Joey led Chi-Yu and Brute Bonnet into my Flutter Mane and Raging Bolt, and smartly locked into Snarl T1 which allowed him to get a Spore off. I wasn’t able to trade damage favorably with my Raging Bolt asleep and he ran away with Game 1. I punished his identical lead in Game 2 by leading Koraidon instead of Flutter, which forced him to double switch immediately and lose all momentum - a death sentence in Koraidon mirrors. The pivotal Game 3 began with his Koraidon and Flutter doubling into my Raging Bolt to take it out, while I Flame Charged to bring his Flutter down to Sash. I misplayed Turn 2 by targeting his Koraidon instead of his Flutter with my own Flutter’s Shadow Ball, which let him KO my Flutter with a Icy Wind and Flame Charge combo before I picked up his Flutter with a second Flame Charge (average Koraidon mirror). Joey gave me an out the following turn by doubling my Koraidon with Collision Course plus Sucker Punch from his Brute Bonnet - my Koraidon survived both hits and brought his Bonnet to 10% with Collision Course. My Chi-Yu was left alone to launch a Dark Pulse into his Tera Fire Koraidon. It survived at exactly 1 HP, which won him the game and the set.
Reflections and Shout-Outs
Joey went on to beat Joe Ugarte in Top 4 and face his teambuilding partner Daniel Yu in an exact mirror Finals. It was incredible to see three teams featuring Koraidon and Brute Bonnet make Top 8. Even though I wasn’t the one who ultimately took them to the top, it was still incredibly validating to see others recognize their potential and build around their strengths. Huge congrats to Daniel, Joey, Rily, and Dylan for their creativity in building around Bonnet and for crushing the tournament!
On a personal level, Atlanta was a new high-water mark. I’m tremendously proud to add a Top 8 finish to my resume, and the run gave me confidence that this won’t be my last time in Top Cut. Anaheim is likely out of the picture for me because I didn’t attend very many events this year, but Worlds 2026 is in my hometown of San Francisco and I would love nothing more than to compete for a title there.
I want to start by shouting out the New England locals who supported me in Atlanta: Kian Sayan (who went 11-0 in Swiss!), Zach Weed, Calvin Tobias (also made Top Cut with Koraidon-Weezing!), Stefan Mott, Liam McDonald, and Rockwell Anyoha. Tom Farro was outwardly impartial to my success, but I’ll forgive him for being a rule-abiding judge and shout him out too. And to the homies who weren’t able to make it: Chase Matteo, Anthony Londergan, June Lintner, CJ Schoenthaler, and the rest of NE VGC. Thanks for welcoming me into this wonderful community the past couple of years!
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.