This GENIUS team uses VOLBEAT and ESPATHRA • Pokemon Scarlet/Violet VGC Battles

[@aleximbufe8844]

Hey, Alex here, the creator of this team. Thanks for the feature! It's a really fun team to play, and I'm glad that more of its tools and tricks were able to be showcased than was shown in my stream match. Here are some other nuggets about the team: -Baltimore was my 3rd regional... and my second time bringing Volbeat. I first brought Volbeat to Toronto regionals in Reg E, because I liked prankster tailwind but didn't like clicking bleakwind storm (notice how every move in this team is 100% accurate), and a stronger lunge gave it the edge over Illumise. It's true that there are no advantages to Volbeat over Illumise with this double weather set since you take slightly more damage from foul play, but Volbeat has more sentimental value to me and its relative weakness gives it a greater effect in shining brighter if I was able to do well with this team. I knew 3 weeks before Baltimore that I wanted to bring dual weather Volbeat to counter the weather meta (though I ended up fighting no rain teams). -Indeedee was an invaluable component of my team with follow me + strong spread attack, and if it goes down I can send in a second strong attacker to overwhelm the opponent. I would often have Espathra in the back with this mode. It especially helps paired with H-Typhlosion. Psychic terrain neutralizes Kingambit's sucker punch which was often brought to check Typhlosion, and I had a nasty tech of imprison hyper voice to seal opposing Primarina's spread water move, allowing Typhlosion to continue firing off eruptions (it also can catch Bloodmoon and Farigirafs off guard). -It's not a surprise that Swampert was a threat in one of the games. One of the biggest threats to this team is earthquake users, and Garchomp specifically. I don't have any resists to ground with a couple of weaknesses, and have to rely on grass tera archaludon or espathra (the only thing that outspeeds it) to contain it. Typhlosion could never be brought into that matchup. My 2 losses in swiss at the regional were actually both against Vivillon + Garchomp players, though they still ended up being close sets. Great job at navigating the Garchomp in Game 7 (was that Giovanni Costa)? -Max speed Espathra outspeeds timid Pelipper and everything below under tailwind with just one speed boost, and just about everything with two boosts, giving me a strong option into opposing tailwind if I didn't want to bring Volbeat. Anyway, I'm really happy about this team's performance at Baltimore and hope to continue building creative anti-meta teams in the future.

[@Kasaaz]

I love seeing these little breakdowns of teams and all the niche things. That's awesome. You made a super creative team that looks really fun to play.

[@Shimahou]

Nice to know someone other than me values Volbeat over Illumise through sheer sentimentality. He's my favorite Pokémon of all time, and I really have to shake your hand for taking him to top 16 at a major tournament. Thank you. 🤝

[@jaredsarslow3143]

I’m

[@tylerwall8105]

I just ran into a variant of this team that used gravity/hypnosis and I was not ready

[@jonathanlgill]

Incredibly fun team. That's really inspiring that you can find tournament success with some niche Pokemon choices.

[@CybertronVGC]

I didn't specifically answer this in the video, but I'm sure some people are wondering why Volbeat vs. Illumise - you could use either interchangeably on this team, since there are no offensive attacks... but Illumise has already seen some VGC success (even in Reg G - kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3fKeYeQbsZ-kLc&ab_channel=CybertronVGC) whereas Volbeat has not really been used at a high level before, so style points for making it work

[@Foot751]

You should interview Wolf on the podcast please. Big fan

[@mythicalwalrus6291]

I’ve actually been running a similar team since reg H started with the same volbeat set, and I chose it because I initially had U-turn over encore to take advantage of volbeat’s higher attack stat. I eventually switched to encore, but already had the trained Volbeat so I stuck with that. That was my reason, but the creator of this team is clearly much better than me, so I’d put my money on the style points theory too 😂

[@hunter_michelie4425]

Love ya content, this question actually got me curious to look at the differnces between Volbeat and Illumise. While both would be able to perform the role that Volbeat is doing here, the reason Illumise has done better for itself is a slightly deeper support moveset with access to Charm and Fake Tears; which greatly dictate damage control better than Volbeat can. Keep bein awesome!

[@organicguy3462]

If you are not running any offense, technically Illumise is better. Lower base Atk means it receives less damage from Foul Play

[@DaGrubb97]

Volbeat is so nostalgic... it is quite literally my bff's least favorite Pokémon, and in Gen 6, I would use a Baton Pass/Geomancy Smeargle into a Tail Glow Volbeat to sweep his entire team in 6v6 singles. He didn't IV/nature breed or EV train like I did, so he didn't quite understand how he kept losing lol. Such good times man

[@firesk8r90]

Bro that’s evil going comp in a friendly battle lmao

[@angelitabecerra]

I love how Volbeat shakes its booty to Tailwind. It's so funny 🤭

[@nazokashii]

Game 1 and game 6 was the same trainer :D same name (Satoshi, the Japanese name for the anime's Ash), same trainer card (appropriately with the Pikachu) :) very cool to see how their team evolved, too! Same concepts but with some Pokémon swapped out ^^ Torterra for Swampert, still starter with Wide Guard, etc :) always enjoy these, thank you so much

[@smokeybandit3787]

Love you Aaron. I love ladders, climbing and Vgc. What better way to spend my evening here!

[@mewr11]

If you're making your own variation on this team you should *probably* use Illumise over Volbeat - even though there aren't any attacking moves on the set, if Volbeat hurts itself in confusion it'll take an extra 4 points of damage, and if it gets hit by Foul Play Volbeat will take an extra 10 points of damage. That may not seem like a lot, but it can matter: Illumise will always live Foul Play + AV Tyranitar Rock Slide, for example, whereas Volbeat is a roll. The only reason I'd keep Volbeat is to try a fringe physical utility move like U-Turn, Lunge, or Thief (or I guess Skitter Smack but at that point use Struggle Bug on Illumise for perfect accuracy and spread).

[@Cardb33]

That Tera Psychic Expanding Force + switch to Indeedee play was absolutely hilarious. Setting up Psychic Terrain blocking both Encore AND Vacuum Wave while using your Tera on a 1 HP Espathra, what an absolutely demoralizing play for the opponent. I might not just leave the game if that happened to me I might quit VGC all together lol.

[@ludovicobikoy8532]

You and James Baek are killing it.

[@DFPWeaponX]

Couldn't click fast enough

[@DFPWeaponX]

Thank you

[@austinbarnett6756]

I couldn’t click faster enough.

[@randerson_]

Loving the influx of videos since Reg H dropped. Fun format and always happy for more Aaron “Cybertron” Zheng

[@addillberry9603]

QotD: Would love to hear you two discuss the concept of converting VGC teambuilding into a showdown style in-game battle sim where players select their teams from the pool of eligible mons and then select their items and attributes thereafter. Something I've been screaming from my soapbox for years now. To be clear, nothing would change in terms of actual gameplay during battle. This would just be intended to eliminate the issue of genning and cloning of mons and items. Furthermore, it would eliminate issues of RNG acquisition of competitive mons and mitigate the need for rusted bottle caps. Only downside I could see is totally corporate/business based (boooo), which is access to DLC mons. I have to think if this were to happen, that the pokemon tied to current gen DLCs you haven't purchased would be unavailable and also not available by trade. Interested to hear other points for or against. Thanks guys.

[@chrisbeeken]

Definitely a different kind of team. And seems fun to play

[@absolanimations9276]

Oh this team is so cool.. shoutout to Alex Imbufe!!

[@graveyardwyrm]

i remember how hyped you were about the volbeat at baltimore regionals when alex was on stream! awesome that you tried the team out for yourself

[@jamesaditya5254]

That game 8 play by the opponent is wild, they went all in into you not having the Indeedee switch and got heavily punished

[@pokemegphd]

1:13:32 trainer card made me lol Pretty sure that is regional champ Gio due to the intense gameplay

[@untouchablequeen]

Volbeats must be an Alex-thing QOTD: since we're using unexpected / unique pokemon choices, maybe some discussion on how you think your favorite unexpected 'mons can be improved to see meta play

[@KaguyaFalls]

ESPATHRA MENTIONED WOOOOO

[@j0monkeey]

This format is so cool allowing for so many mons that have been marked as useable actually make decent appearances. Also Love the espathra!

[@Cybertronfanboy]

I love to see the new an whacke combos of Pokémon coming out of this format ❤

[@nightingem]

Awesome to see this team thrive! It had such an unfortunate total shutdown matchup against another unique team on its stream game.

[@Shiradrenaline]

I LOVED seeing this team at Baltimore!

[@chopper2754]

To watch Aaron or James first 🤔

[@nicknotnamed]

I've been using this team for the last week and a bit on showdown. You have to watch out for heavy special defense based teams. They can completely shut it down.

[@zashinunes8191]

42:00 On this game 3 didn't understand why would you Protect Typhlosion there, it's either Ape KOs Primarina, and Typhlosion KOs Ape, or Ape KOs Typhlosion and Primarina KOs Ape, I lowkey think you threw that turn, maybe you saw something I didn't, but yeah, and the fact he knew Typhlosion isn't choice, the possibility of the protect was real, that's probably one of the reasons he choose to target Primarina I also don't agree with Electroshot with Archaludon there, Dragon Pulse on either was probably better, would've do more Damage and could help Typhlosion KO ape with the Eruption

[@luckiertwin2]

Your new channel is awesome. Please keep reminding us about it. Until it gets hooked into the recommendation algorithm, I’ll forget about it with my short memory.

[@joserockzvgc]

Wait , isn’t this the team that went against struggle bugg Volcarona and Grimmsnarl

[@manuelrivera4333]

Love how you always break down games ! Will be looking into the podcast!

[@jpaulofh]

QOTD: I think it would be really interesting to talk about emerging players. Players that don't have many accomplishes yet, but are proving their worth. Would be nice to bring them to the spotlight.

[@jonathanlgill]

That second-to-last game was really cool.

[@GerardoLeonVE]

The one thing that would separate me from Cybertron's content, more Timeless Cybertron content! to the Podcast!

[@anthonybaird1]

Congrats on your podcast! I’ve been listening and enjoying. Hearing you and Markus talk about the game is so interesting - both your experiences are great to learn more about the game from. QOTD: I’d love to hear more interviews from winners of recent tournaments, how their teams work etc. I’d also love from some of the regular casters and how they feel the difference between playing and casting is, how casters prepare for tournaments etc. And finally, I’d love to hear from some female players and their experiences with competing.

[@sm0ky12]

Id love for you guys to discuss potential competative changes in future games, what youd like to see, and thoughts on if they spent a gen just rebalencing things

[@anarose6021]

Was that giovanni costa in game 7

[@purpledabs]

Im interested to see if replacing volbeat for grafaiai would be more beneficial. Volbeat is bulkier but having that back pocket slaking could be funny

[@Kasaaz]

That last game was CERTAIN there was some Gravity / Hypnosis shenanigans coming. That's why they went Misty Terrain, I think.

[@Caw50]

I'd kill to see an oranguru team with instruct

[@gabebaum6527]

QOTD: Since you've both been in the vgc scene for a long time, I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on how the scene has grown over the years with more resuources becoming available and the barrier to entry becoming lower, as well as things the community could do to grow and nurture the scene even more.

[@ecstaticbutter9164]

This has been one of my favorites

[@Animedingo]

Son of a birch I was just experimenting with dual weather sableye

[@perk2469]

That play in that last game!!

[@neri1220]

Specs Weather Ball is amazing if you can change weather like that! You basically CHANGE moves while specs.

[@owl8185]

I would love to hear you guys discuss your opinions on mega Pokémon as a mechanic. I know Wolfe has discussed how he didn’t like the mechanic for VGC so I would love to hear your guys’ opinion on it!

[@DryToast_]

This is awesome to see I’m trying a similar team but with alolan raichu instead of espathra. Taking notes to see if this team’s strategy can be effective for my team 😅

[@Boohnaa]

Ah the rage quit is so satisfying

[@bilboswaggings]

Hyper voice imprison is nice against bloodmoon or primarina (notably with the speed investment indeedee is faster than non nature boosting max speed primarina)

[@KanderUdon]

Love espathra

[@rossnsuchthangs]

COUNTING ALL THE A-HOLES IN THE ROOM, AND I'M DEFINITELY NOT ALONE, IM NOT ALOOOONE!! ZZAH!

[@LOLquendoTV]

idk why but when i saw that first team's fire water grass starter core I thought for sure it was a pledge move team

[@getrekt2560]

Incineroar in 6 out of the 8 top teams is just hilarious.

[@aero4171]

You played the same Kilowattrel player twice no?

[@AdeptCharon]

Locked into the OC with a terrible team and no reg H practice, But I have a Volbeat (with Struggle bug rather than Encore), and honestly it is the MVP of the team LOL

[@ParkyMarz]

This is the level I want to reach in team building, making a team with so many different combos

[@zashinunes8191]

I missed a explanation about the Coba Berry on Volbeat. I think Covert Cloak would've been way better

[@johnpaulraguindin4009]

Can you do an episode explaining on what players need to do if they want to compete in the world championship? Like break it down in simple terms.

[@meyomeyo9911]

Babe wake up, aaron cybrrtron zheng got new video

[@donniecupples6721]

What an interesting team

[@phyzickss]

Hey there, I was really hoping you could bring up the effectiveness of 1 Atk IV on a Special Attacker, and talk about whether it’s important or negligent in the outcome of a battle

[@PokemonplayerVGC]

Gotta say that's a cool team

[@rubiconprime1429]

It’s funny how Murkrow can almost do everything this Volbeat can, except Encore. I guess that’s the price you pay for Haze and Quash

[@svensvenson4347]

Regulation H has the most interesting teams

[@angelopotenza9180]

VOLBEAT POG

[@Miyonada]

QOTD: Discuss VGC History whatever that may entail

[@nvo_beejay]

Hey Aaron! ❤

[@luisan776]

An easy solution to intimidate, just run all special attackers

[@cybrpnk_edgrnr]

I’ve been so busy lately with uni starting up again, but these vids are perfect for winding down after a stressful day. Thank you, Aaron Cybertron Zheng, for these immaculate videos!🫡🙏

[@OrestisExarchos]

Maybe stupid question but how does your tailwind go before their moon blast in game 2?

[@daviandrade2189]

I think you mean game 3, and it goes faster because prankster changes the priority of status moves

[@Kasaaz]

Apparently you had to be named Alex to bring it.

[@Brian-Dean]

Is it just me or is the audio out of sync with the video by like a 10th of a second..?

[@BArrowN]

But why not Illumise, I think it's better or am I wrong.

[@CybertronVGC]

There’s no difference between them defensively, you could use either

[@BArrowN]

@@CybertronVGC Well at least it gets less foul play damage but yea doesn't really matter (and it looks better haha).

[@alerog745]

QOTD: worst pokemon youve brought to an event

[@J725_6]

New episode yey :D

[@scottcrysel]

Give me allllllllllll the crazy team videos!!

[@ZayYaNaing-o5o]

I only now notices that, this team doesn't have a physical attacker lol hahhaa

[@alejandromatiasastorga5372]

The encore inability to encore encore may be due to avoid a battle 1 vs 1 so fucking annoying with two mons (the only left in field) encoring each other. Makes sense when you think about it, but it kinda suck anyway.

[@shaggycrow]

Man reg H is so good

[@slimebot3377]

Comment for the algorithm

[@tylerrock7219]

So what I don't understand is... why Volbeat? Is it just because it can run Encore, because Murkrow can run everything else Volbeat has, better bulk (with Eviolite), a better typing, and also Haze, Foul Play, Quash, etc.

[@TheKharymusic]

Why not Volbeat is the question.

[@zebraschinge6909]

You cant Encore Encore. *Tries to Encore the Encore next Turn again

[@CybertronVGC]

There’s not really anything else to do with Volbeat that turn, so Encore would at least punish a misplay if he went for another Prankster boosted attack (since he is faster) which I could lock him into

[@angelitabecerra]

Epic

[@DFPWeaponX]

Misty terrain weakens dragon moves so I'm guessing they wanted to ensure you couldn't Draco their Archaludon

[@BestAnswer12549]

Mewtwo should be a better Espathra.

[@ecstaticbutter9164]

Do you think people intentionally make their team all female or all male? Or is that just coincidence lol.

[@lavender3084]

Man i hate when youtubers put jumpscares in the thumbnail.. /j

[@MrCherrycoke18]

They gotta fix Volbeats mug like… that face is just a brick

[@Pie-ed6nh]

I have never been this early. 28 seconds.😅

[@williamales8428]

How can you say it’s the most creative team from Baltimore knowing dang well what Wolfey brought? Lol

[@CybertronVGC]

Where did I say it was the most creative team? I called it *one* of the most creative teams at 0:14 and 2:25

[@Pokemazda]

And actually, Wolfey's/Justin's team strategy, I saw in the beginning of Scarlet and Violet online. Just without the Galarian Weezing. It's nothing new. Just not used much.

[@Eltonmofo]

we know.. just battle

[@CybertronVGC]

???

[@bobthehandyman3650]

16:58 why do you weather ball in the rain when you could hypervoice with liquid voice both the oponnents

[@bobthehandyman3650]

oh choice specs

[@KaguyaFalls]

ESPATHRA MENTIONED WOOOOO