 Hi everyone and welcome back to another episode of our Pokemon VGC 2019 Ultra Series Guide. We kicked in to start off these guides at the start of this week with an introductory guide then we moved on to Primal Kyogre and we covered Primal Groudon in our last episode. So if you've missed any of those and you'd like to go back and check out those guides you can go back up here I'll link a card for you so you can check them out. The introduction is very good to get you introduced to the new format going through those new mechanics new Pokemon that we have available to us and what to expect going into the Ultra Series. We did the Primal Kyogre explaining all about that Primal weather that Primal Orioles see its abilities in this format what you can do to support it what you can do to exploit it and did the same with Groudon in our previous episode. So like I say if you have missed them and you'd like to learn a little bit more about those new Pokemon that we've got available going into the Ultra Series go back check them out and definitely let me know what you think about them. But getting into today's guide we are going to be covering Mega Rayquaza so very excited to be covering this Pokemon today and it's extremely strong. One of my favourite Pokemon from the 2016 format it now has access to that Dragon Ascent which gives it the ability to Mega Evolve when you have it out on the field and has access to that Delta Stream ability as well which is extremely strong especially in a format that is going to be so dominated by Primal Weathers. But before we get into it as always if you enjoy this sort of content please remember to drop a like on the video down below. Subscribe to the channel so you don't miss any of these guides episodes when they do drop as well as our daily VGC content as streams, a flinch squad circuit and everything else. Pokemon related on the channel and remember as well leave your comments down below. I love hearing from you guys interacting with you about your thoughts on the Moon Series these guides and what you'd like to see in future guides for improving them going forward. So without further ado let's get into this first one today. So we're going to kick off with a Pokemon overview as we normally do you can see Rayquaza is a flying and dragging type keeping that typing from its normal form. You're going to have the Delta Stream ability which will be its new ability once it does Mega Evolve getting rid of that airlock and being overwritten by Delta Stream. Now we did cover Delta Stream in our introductory guide but if you just want to quickly go over it again for you guys Delta Stream is a unique form of weather it is a mysterious air current that causes moves that would be super effective against pure flying type Pokemon instead to deal neutral damage so it's taking away that weakness to ice types, rock types, electric types so you've got to think even though that Rayquaza is four times weak to ice because of its dragon and flying typing it just becomes two times weak so it takes away that flying weakness to those attacks reducing the damage there so as well as that it doesn't just support Rayquaza it supports everything on the field from those type attacks as long as they are a flying type. It does overwrite Primordial Sea and Desolate Land when it comes onto the field so combined with an airlock ability it is very strong at disrupting opposing weathers. It is going to be affected again in the same way as Primordial Sea Desolate Land are affected by airlock or cloud nine so you need to be careful about that if Delta Stream is active and an opposing Rayquaza is on the field it hasn't mega-revolved got that airlock active then you will not have that protection from those ice type moves that are so threatening to Rayquaza additionally it causes other weather modifying moves like sunny day rain dance hail and sandstorm to fail so anything even with those abilities like draught or drizzle switching in it will fail if that Delta Stream is active only another primal weather can overwrite it and as always Delta Stream will stay active on the field until Rayquaza either switches out it fades or it is overwritten by one of those primal weathers that we've already mentioned you can see that mega-requaza does get a big buff to its base stats you've got a 105 HP 180 attack 100 defense 180 special attack 100 special defense and that magical 115 base speed stats so very nice there you can see the mega-requaza gets a real big jump in its speed stack giving it a big advantage against other restrictives and other pokemon in this format type strengths and weaknesses haven't changed much you're still going to be weak to rock ice dragon and fairy you've got to remember if that delta stream up the ice weakness is in four times weak you are only weak to it by two and then rock types are hitting neutral as long as that delta stream is active on the field you are immune to ground types and you do resist fighting bug fire water and grass thanks to the majority of that dragon typing on Rayquaza so that is a basic overview of mega-requaza before we get into the set and now it is time to jump into the first sample set of the episode so first sample set we're going to look at is probably going to be one of the more common sets that you will see played on Rayquaza it's going to be the focus sash set it gives Rayquaza that security that it can take any real threatening attack and hit back for big big damage going with the jolly nature here to maximize that base 115 speed stat gone with an EV spread of 4 HP 252 attack 252 speed and your common move set you're going to see in this sort of Rayquaza is going to be dragon ascent you need that to mega evolve extreme speed sword stance and protecting with the focus slash we saw Wolfie Glick in the 2016 world championships do so well with it and really sure how threatening this pokemon can be with the focus slash gives that alleviation to be able to take big attacks and then sword stance up and throw out big dragon ascent and extreme speeds to deal with those opposing targets so you can see from all the offensive calculations here you've got a plus one 252 attack mega Rayquaza dragon ascent versus a 4 HP no defense a zernius is a guaranteed one hit chaos so if you can get that sword stance up even if your opponent has intimidated support it can only get you down to plus one you will still pick up that big knockout onto zernius before it can do anything back to you and i mean even if it's your mantis in front of you you don't really care for that one turn while it can only activate that focus slash it cannot knock Rayquaza out so that is a very big calculation and just shows the ability that Rayquaza has it's going to naturally outspeed zernius as well before it can get those geomancy boosts which gives it a big advantage so if you can get yourself in a nice position to nuke that zernius before it can even get boosted up you kind of alleviate that threat altogether defensive calculation just to give you an example of what this Rayquaza is capable of with that delta stream activated a 252 special attack primal kyogre ice beam in the strong winds is always going to be a 2 hit chaos so you can always take that and for this example we'll say you can take the ice beam sword stance up that turn and then the next turn you will always be able to take down that primal kyogre with a dragon ascent gonna see some restricted partners here that the most common restricted partners you're gonna see with Rayquaza are things like zernius kyogre they're the two main pokemon that Rayquaza paired with within this format another option there and it's hard to kind of put a lot of options next to Rayquaza because you're going to see so predominantly it paired with this zernius or the kyogre but we're going to give other options throughout this guide to give you an idea of what you can maybe try out and test out when you're playing in this format so how all can work pretty nicely with mega Rayquaza gets that protection from that delta stream ability those rock type attacks will only be hitting for two times damage so making it even stronger than what it already is and it really does help and check those fairy types that are quite threatening to Rayquaza you have to be careful for taku koko but again that electric weakness is taken away on haul so that makes it a little bit easier to manage you're going to see non-restricted partners with Rayquaza you're going to see things like mega more while incinero there both with intimidate supporting Rayquaza against those physical type attacks you're going to have fake out support from the incinero and that slow pivot as well which gives you a lot better options when you're trying to dictate and make sure that the weather's staying on your side of the field koton is a nice option there for Rayquaza as well another steel type that helps deal with those very threatening fairy types that Rayquaza has to be careful around and then pokemon checks you're going to see things like ultranocrosmite it will naturally outspeed mega Rayquaza if it is carrying a dragon type attack as well ultranocrosmite will be able to pick up a knockout pretty easily if you do not deal and set up well around zernius it can boost up in front of you and then will become very threatening so very well supported zernius you need to be very cautious around it make sure that you've got a good game plan going into it because it can be something that is very detrimental to Rayquaza and then mega minetric because it does have those electric type attacks it will be hitting pretty decently it has intimidate as well and it will be resisting those flying type attacks that you'll be throwing out at it so that is the focus set the next set that we're going to look at is another common set that you'll see in this format and that is going to be the life orb set so life orb is an item that gives you 30% boost on all attacks that you're throwing out from this pokemon holding it but at the cost of recoil damage each turn so we're going again with a jolly nature because again we want to be maximizing that speed stat that attack stat to get the most out of Rayquaza you're going to go with a set of dragon ascent extreme speed sword stance and protect again now you can interchange that sword stance if you want for something like Draco meteor something like overheat just to give you a bit more coverage outside of those two attacks in dragon ascent and extreme speed and in offensive calculation here you can see a 252 attack life orb mega Rayquaza dragon ascent versus a 4hp and no defense a zernius so you just your standard zernius has a 25% chance to knock it out cleanly so if you can get any chip onto that zernius at all you're pretty much guaranteeing that you'll be able to take it out you've got to be of course aware of intimidate support and things like that that could really disrupt this calculation but if you've got something like helping hand beside Rayquaza it can be very very strong especially with that life orb and a defensive calculation example here is a 252 special attack fairy or a boosted zernius dazzling gleam versus this Rayquaza is always going to be a two hit kill so if you've got something beside Rayquaza like Clefairy for instance that has helping hand that has follow me it does force the zernius to go for that dazzling gleam which gives you the room to operate take it down if you need to with a dragon ascent and extreme speed that combination will guarantee the chaos onto most zernius especially a dragon ascent and then a helping hand so you can deal with it quite nicely with that combination the redirection in those situations is very nice just for that calculation but that is an example so some examples of more restricted partners here we're going to have that Kyogre in every single one I think because it's just so strong with the the mega Rayquaza being able to really overpower primal groudon which is one of the biggest threats in this format so primal groudon can be an option there with Rayquaza you can always look at that it can support mega Rayquaza pretty nicely it's got that fire typing which resists those fairy types and it has that ground typing that deals with those steel types that Rayquaza does tend to struggle against a little bit with just access to that dragon ascent and extreme speed in attacks then you've got the Sogallio is another option there because of the threat that Rayquaza has against those fairy types Sogallio can be quite a nice option outside of anything else that you would normally see it paired with non restricted partners you're going to see are things like mega Gengar being able to trap your opponents in supports mega Rayquaza really nicely making sure that you're not allowing your opponent to adjust their board position so you can really start to punish them with these two powerful attackers when you've got them out on the field bronzong is going to be a nice support option that we see with Rayquaza quite commonly it has that trick room switch as well that gives you a bit of a different dimension to the team if you want to go very fast mode with mega Rayquaza and then have something like a very slow primal Kyogre in your team that you can utilise with bronzong as well it's very nice and compliments each other pretty nicely and Togodemoro is going to be something else it's another steel type it's got that aligning rodability as well and it has access to nuzzle which is very useful for something like mega Rayquaza especially again if you're in front of Azernius and it does geomancy you can nuzzle it with the Togodemoro and then put it into position where Rayquaza can just hit it on that defensive side which it isn't boosted on Azernius and potentially take it out and some Pokemon checks that you need to really keep in mind when you are playing Rayquaza is definitely one of the mega salaments that is going to be able to get an intimidate onto you reduce the attack power of mega Rayquaza and also just throw out big attacks that you've got to be aware of and it will naturally outspeed mega salaments doesn't normally carry something like Draco meteor but it's something that you have to just keep in mind in case you do see the stray Draco meteor here there or everywhere because it will outspeed and it will have the potential to take you down opposing Rayquazas are going to be very difficult for you to deal with especially if they are in this case if you are running the life orb set and they are running the focus sash set because if they underspeed you by any means and go adamant you dragon ascent into them take them down to your sash they will be able to dragon ascent you and pick up a clean one hit cure in return so you need to be careful around that variant as well and then mega Moel is something that you have to be aware of because without any fire coverage here you need some real solid support to deal with mega Moel that's going to be able to just eat up those dragon ascent in extreme speeds all a day long and return with some big fairy type attacks in return so that is the life orb set we're going to go into our next sample set which is going to be a little favorite of mine from the 2016 format which is an assault vest variant so assault vest Rayquaza was something that I used to really good success in the 2016 season top cutting UK nationals coming second in Glasgow regionals that yeah with this Pokemon top 18 Dublin regionals as well so I did very well with assault vest Rayquaza I had many builds of it in the 2016 format so it was definitely something that I wanted to include in this guide and make you guys aware of going into this format just giving you a different option for using mega Rayquaza as well so as I say we've got that assault vest it's the item choice here got a speed stat of 168 which gives you the jump on all base 100s that are max speed so things like mega Kangas calm mega guard of war palkea other things and anything below that going with an ev spread of 164 hp 76 attack 20 defense 28 special attack 76 special defense and 140 speed who we can breathe so um yes it's quite a big ev spread isn't it it is quite specific it does a lot of things we can get into that in a minute and move set we're going to see is dragon ascend extreme speed draca meteor and overheat generally the move set that I would run on this assault vest Rayquaza gives you all the coverage you kind of need against all of those big threats and just to give you some examples of the offensive calculations that you can do here at 28 special attack Rayquaza draca meteor this is an opposing Rayquaza is always going to be a guaranteed one hit kill and even minus two you'll be picking up that knockout on two opposing Rayquaza's opposing salamence so that option there is very nice and also opposing ultra necrosis you're going to see a defensive calculation here just to show you the sheer bulk of this assault vest Rayquaza but a 252 special attack primal kyoga ice beam in the strong winds with the assault vest is always going to be pretty much a three hit kyoga it's got a 2.7 percent chance to hit kyu so for the most part you're always going to be three hit kyo by the ice beam giving you a lot of room to operate in front of primal kyoga now common part as you're going to see with this sort of Rayquaza are going to be things like primal kyoga once again the zernius once again and also another alternative that you could run is something like ultra necrosis from the dusk main or dawn wings variants of the necrosis before it does mega evolve and they do complement the mega Rayquaza quite nicely some non-restricted partners you're going to see mega metagross is a very interesting one again giving you that alleviation against opposing fairy types and steel types because of the stomp and tantrum that you do otherwise have issues with then tug of kiss is going to be a real nice partner for this sort of Rayquaza with that follow me redirection with tailwind speed control dazzling gleaming air slash that really help out this this Rayquaza and then ferrathorn as well going to be nicely paired up with that primal kyoga and mega Rayquaza again just giving you additional options against those fairy types that are so threatening things that you do need to be careful of though are going to be things like taba koko it can carry the fair inium z it will outspeed you naturally it's going to do a lot of damage and those electric type attacks especially if the delta stream ability is taken away then you will be taken a little bit more damage from those as well and you've always got to be a little bit aware of the gigavolt havoc that taba koko can and does tend to carry dialgur is another pokemon that does threaten mega Rayquaza quite heavily and so does chrysalia because you're going to struggle to hit chrysalia with how bulky it is and it's going to be able to really disrupt your flaw in battle with trick room icy wind and just being able to sit around and support its fellow pokemon very comfortably so that kind of sums up the assault vest the reason for the coverage there you've got the drake of me that hits all of those popular dragons like mega Rayquaza like ultran across my like salamence in this format you've also got a nice option to hit opposing primal groudons that are normally weaker on the special side as well so you're not always having to rely on the dragon ascent that is reducing your attack and defense stats every turn you use it and then you've got the overheat which gives you a nice check against things like ferrathorn in particular and that overheat with that special attack investment will always guarantee the one hit kill onto ferrathorn and then the dragon ascent and extreme speed are quite self-explanatory that you're going to really be the staples on most mega Rayquaza sets and you know what they're all about anyways so that is the assault vest let's move into the next section of this guide which is going to give you some sample teams so sample teams here for you we've got the top one which is an x-ray build so Rayquaza, Zernius, Incineroar, Amungus, Landerus and Stack Attacker then we've got the sample two which is a Kyoga Rayquaza build with the Incineroar type of finny stack attacker and Clefairy that we had in the introductory guide and then a bit of a different one where we've got another Rayquaza build which has that Rayquaza, Prima Kyoga, Incineroar, Cresselia, Mega Moile and Amungus there so they are all in the description down below the raw piss and poker piss are there for you to get started with and hopefully these are things that are beneficial for you and give you a good start going into the ultra series if you want to just start playing around with mega Rayquaza and any of the other restrictives that we've got listed here so I hope you have a lot of fun with them so let's finish up with a counter options and summary of mega Rayquaza we can see that mega Rayquaza is like we said at the start of this guide a dragon and flying type it has got that delta stream ability whenever it does mega evolve with a maximum speed of 183, minimum speed of 108 and like we keep saying within these guides you know what these benchmarks are now and if you need to have something to deal with mega Rayquaza you know what you need to do to add speed it and you know what you need to do to under speed it if you go down a trick room route things to support mega Rayquaza you're going to need speed control because your opponent is probably more than likely going to be relying on their speed control to get the jump on mega Rayquaza so just having your own to counteract that and make sure that mega Rayquaza isn't in a really bad position is going to be super helpful. Intimidate support going to be really nice again especially against opposing mega Rayquazas Salamence and other physical attackers that will cause you a lot of issues you're going to need fairy and steel checks at 100% because without any fire coverage on mega Rayquaza you're going to really struggle to hit those steel types they can just quite happily sit in front of you and just chip away at you until you're not really in the position to get that win anymore. Redirection support we've already mentioned that Togok has been a very good one Clefairy another very strong one especially with that friend guard helping hand support and follow me they're really supporting this sort of mega Rayquaza very well and had a lot of success in previous formats where we have had access to it and then that pivot support again just because of the primal weather here it does give you the option to get your Pokemon out, readjust your board position and take control of the match that is so important so some Pokemon threats there that we're going to see obviously Zernius is going to be a big threat to mega Rayquaza especially when it's supported well you're going to see Tapococort is going to naturally outspeed and can't threaten with that fair inium Z. Going to see mega Rayquaza is going to be something that does threaten your mega Rayquaza so you've got to be careful for that. Mega Manetrix is going to be another one that intimidates support that quick pivot out the electric type attacks and it could carry something like hidden part eyes so you can't discount that and if your opponent changes the weather gets rid of that delta stream and hits you with the hidden part eyes it's going to hurt. You're going to see Mega Salamence as well another Pokemon that does naturally outspeed mega Rayquaza and can and has access to those dragon type attacks that would threaten you as well as that Ultranocross method acting exactly the same way naturally out speeding and can threaten you with those dragon type attacks that you've got no way around then Pokemon walls you're going to see it's majority of steel types here like I say if you do not have some sort of fire coverage or ground coverage on your mega Rayquaza then these Pokemon are just going to be able to have the best time sitting in front of you support their partnering Pokemon or just chip away at you until like I say you're not going to be in a position to win the match any longer so that's going to be Mega Manetgross Farathorn, Bronzon, Stack Attacker, Mega Moel and Dial got all been able to take attacks pretty easily from Mega Rayquaza and hit back for big damage in return so that wraps up the Mega Rayquaza guide for today guys I hope you've enjoyed it it's been a lot of fun covering it doing all the different sets giving you an idea of what the standard things that you'll be seeing run on Mega Rayquaza going into the Ultra series and some sample teams there for you to get started with if it is something you'd like to test out going into the Ultra series so I hope you've enjoyed it guys thank you so much for tuning in remember to leave your comments in the comment section below I'd love to hear what your thoughts are on today's guide and we'll be back with our final guide in the Ultra series tomorrow which we'll be looking at Ultra and Acrosma so until then guys thank you so much for tuning in take care of yourselves have a great day afternoon morning or night whatever time of day it is and I'll see you all for the next one so until then take care and bye bye