Zoroark-Hisui Top 8 Regionals Team

Overview:

Hey everyone! Here's the rental code for the team I used to place top 8 at the Milwaukee Regional Championships last weekend - it's a very fun team to use and was built around Hisuian Zoroark.

Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/d50fb3aead0a2fb7

The main core of the team is Zoroark/Ursaluna-BM/Gholdengo/Whimsicott. Incineroar gives the team a little defense and is pretty good at slotting in when Zoroark or Whimsicott aren't especially good, and Dragonite gives the team a stronger physical attacker in key matchups such as vs Kingambit.

The core idea of the team is built around getting speed control for your super strong attackers in Gholdengo and Ursaluna-Blood Moon. Icy Wind and Tailwind combine to give you multiple good forms of speed control that stack on top of one another. This team leans more into offense than my usual teams, and tends to feel strongest when you're able to get Gholdengo or Ursaluna attacking before your opponents can move.

The team itself:

-Zoroark was the starting point - in part because Illusion is a cool ability, but also in part because of the unique aspects of its kit. With its signature typing it actually is fully immune to Annihilape, which was a major draw. Also, by being faster than Alolan-Ninetales we liked that it was possible to combo Icy Wind with another attack and pick up a KO immediately. While some Hisuian Zoroark run choice specs, I was most interested in Focus Sash in large part because I think it makes better use of Icy Wind. Tera Ghost allows you to OHKO most Gholdengo with Bitter Malice, and Taunt was chosen to disrupt Trick Room teams.

-Ursaluna Blood Moon was added next due to it being the strongest special attacker in the format. Outspeeding Rillaboom, Archaludon and Gholdengo after an Icy Wind was really appealing, and rewarded us for being intentional with speed control. It's an excellent Pokemon to disguise Zoroark as too since if the opponent tries to use Fake Out or a Fighting type move to hit Ursaluna, they may deal no damage to Zoroark.

-Whimsicott was the next Pokemon added. Oftentimes Icy Wind wasn't enough Speed Control, and Tailwind was. Moreover, Whismicott offers a lot of other benefits. We needed a way to stop opponents from Protecting both their Pokemon on the first turn to scout for Zoroark - and with both Tailwind and Encore pressure, it became significantly less safe for them to go for this passive play. Because of this I disguised Zoroark as Whimsicott most of the time. This is especially good vs Focus Sash Pokemon like Alolan-Ninetales. Covert Cloak means next to Zoroark or Gholdengo you're fully immune to Fake Out, and Fake Tears combos really well with both Ursaluna and Gholdengo too. It's trained to outspeed Adamant Excadrill and to survive uninvested Incineroar Flare Blitz, with the rest put into special bulk.

-Gholdengo is the last member of the core, and ties it together nicely. It's really the first multi-dimensional Pokemon on the team as it works both as an immediate offensive threat or as a setup Pokemon. While the team doesn't have great support to set up, against opponents in passive board states or pressured from another Pokemon or locked into a bad move with Encore, Nasty Plot proved to be invaluable. Initially I thought Choice Specs Gholdengo would be best, but I was really impressed with the flexibility of nasty plot and the power of Metal Coat. Tera Water seemed like the best defensive tera to be useful against both Sun and Rain. I decided to go with Modest max speed because the team had so much speed control and I wanted to maximize damage, even though I knew many other Gholdengo would be Timid. I think this was the right decision. You can also disguise Zoroark as Gholdengo in order to bait Shadow Balls from the opponent.

-Incineroar was the 5th Pokemon added. I knew we needed help vs Kingambit and strong priority attacks in the form of Grassy Glide from Rillaboom and Vacuum Wave from Assault Vest Ursaluna. It also helps vs trick room teams, where the plan normally is to prevent them from setting it up, Incineroar provides insurance if they do manage to twist the dimensions. Mirror Herb is mostly useless but was helpful vs Kingambit, who the team is weak to. Incineroar outspeeds +1 Dragonite while Tailwind is active, as well as Choice Scarf Basculegion inside Tailwind. It's trained to survive -1 Sneasler Close Combat and Assault Vest Ursaluna Blood Moon Earth Power.

-Dragonite was the last Pokemon added - we tried a ton of different Pokemon in this slot. Ultimately the team wanted more physical damage, more for Kingambit, and a Pokemon that could be brought against rain teams. Dragonite didn't help vs Kingambit initially, which is why we decided to run Tera Fighting Low Kick. I wasn't so worried about Dondozo so I didn't feel like Haze was needed, and I also didnt think Tailwind was needed because of Whimsicott. Extreme Speed was nice against tera-fairy Pokemon for reliable damage, and to give another tool against low HP priority attackers. Dragonite is the Pokemon I brought the least but it did a good job when I did bring it, and I think it was the right final Pokemon.

Weaknesses:

There's a few challenging Pokemon to face, mainly:

-Faster Gholdengo when supported properly

-Kingambit (public enemy #1)

-Trick Room if they're able to get it set up, which isn't easy for them to do

-Priority, especially vacuum wave Ursaluna Blood Moon, though Grassy Glide Rillaboom is also annoying

There are answers on the team to every one of these threats, but I still found them the most difficult to play against. I hope you enjoy using the team (and I'm sorry in advance to everyone who plays against it). Good luck!