So, saying as I'm helping co-commentate with Marcos on a couple things; I thought I might introduce myself a little more by showing you the teams I have used throughout the 2018 circuit. This is excluding my teams for Valencia, and possibly Harrogate, as they are going towards the 2019 circuit. Liverpool Regionals and London Internats Liverpool was the last UK regionals to bestow the VGC 17 format. It was nestled just between US internats and worlds, so I had to build a team that countered the meta game of both events. Taking this into mind, I realised FAKEPG and FAKEPM were still very popular so my team consisted of the following: Nihilego @ Choice Scarf Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs Haryiama @ Assault Vest Porygon2 @ Eviolite Gyarados @ Flyinium Z Gigalith @ Rockium Z The team was based on the popular "anti-FAKEPG" team used in the LatAm VGC circuit. A report for the team can be found here Later in the year came London Internats. Falling just between my first week of my last year of High School and my first set of mock exams, I had no time to train or look into new teams/cores. Because of this, I used a core I was quite comfortable with and had success with in previous tournaments. This being rain; to this day I believe rain to be the strongest team in VGC. Finding a rain team was easy, all I had to do was ask OweVGC (he got 9th at world's with rain). The team may look familiar: Golduck @ Waterium Z Pelipper @ Focus Sash / Politoed @ Agauv Berry (I considered Politoed but we used Pelliper) Buzzwole @ Assault Vest/Fightinium Z (AV was chosen for bulky in the lele and/or rain mirror) Tapu Koko @ Life Orb Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs Metagross @ Choice Band/Assault Vest (Choice Band paired better with multiple terrains) This rain team was hyper offensive and was intended to have different modes for different situations. Much more verbal info can be found in my team review video here 2018 ICs To open 2018, we had the good ol' Battlespot ICs. In order to keep this short, I'll talk about all three in one segment. In the first IC, the format was still fresh. Landorus was all over the place and Incineroar was still primitive with Blaze as its only ability. I was also very ill at the time of this event so I had to throw a team together quickly. So, without further adieu, here is the team: Landorus-Therian @ Groundium Z Togedemaru @ Focus Sash (This was a somewhat bulky build despite the sash) Tapu Fini @ Wiki Berry (This was a Calm Mind set I had spare) Charizard @ Charizardite Y Gothitelle @ Aguav Berry Snorlax @ Figy Berry (This set switched between Curse and Belly Drum due to the glitch) In March, TPCi blessed us with an early IC. This is not unusual, but it gave people a little less time to adapt to the meta after the previous IC. Lucky for me, I was on a short break from school and was no longer ill! My skills were sharpened again and I was more prepared for the meta game. Funilly, I hadn't tested rain in the current for mat at this point so I thought I'd adapt Aaron Zheng's team and give it a try. I had a friend partake in this event as his first taste of VGC, too. So I'll provide his team here too: My team Paste (The paste contains Florges, but Lele was Scarf with a 252/252/4 Spread) Ludicolo @ Waterium Z Politoed @ Agauv Berry Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf / Florges @ Wiki Berry (I had 2 consoles, and I wanted to test Florges) Metagross @ Metagrossite (With Lele, I ran Zen Headbutt; with Florges, I ran Ice Punch) Zapdos @ Psychic Seed Landorus @ Choice Band Friend's Team I helped build my friend's team and I bred it for him. So I take a lot of credit for it xD. The team is based on the early stages of goth maw teams; they were seen to be a big threat at the time. Mawile @ Mawilite Gothitelle @ Aguav Berry Politoed @ Wiki Berry Ludicolo @ Grassium Z (This idea came from rain already boosting our Water-type STAB) Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs Snorlax @ Iapappa Berry My friend was kind enough to give me a paste of the team I didn't get much done during the final IC in June. It clashed with Sheffield Regionals and I needed to spend more time preparing and sleeping for a bigger 200CP event. However, I did get to do around 5 battles and a only lost one. Here is the team I used: Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite / Latias @ Latiasite (I preferred Latias' ability to set up Tailwind) Kartana @ Focus Sash Tapu Koko @ Electrium Z Incineroar @ Assault Vest Araquanid @ Waterium Z Porygon2 @ Eviolite I had a lot of previous practice in bo1 and bo3 with "Spider Duck" and Gardevoir centralised teams so I had no wory entering an IC with a team that utilised both cores. A paste for the team can be found here Sheffied Regionals Sheffield Regionals was the final and largest Regionals in Europe, for the 2018 circuit. A lot of players were in attendance to get last minute invites to Worlds or to sneak themselves into the top 8 players of Europe. I knew that even with first place I wouldn't get worlds so I used a fun and competitive team that I had recently enjoyed testing: Gengar @ Genagrite Incineroar @ Figy Berry / Volcarona @ Wiki Berry (Volcarona was faster than Max Speed Lando) Landorus-Therian @ Groundium Z Tapu Fini @ Choice Specs Togedemaru @ Focus Sash Celesteela @ Misty Seed The team had a lot of tricks up it's sleeves. Can you tell what they are from this paste? Conclusion In a brief nutshell, those are my successful competitive teams of the VGC 18 circuit. I didn't have the best finishes and I played really bad compared to my 2017 performances, but we can't always do as good as we wish. If you wish to question my teams and choices, please do; however, please use constructive criticism and don't outright tell me upsetting or offensive things about my teams.