 Hi everyone and welcome back to another episode of our Pokemon VGC 2019 Ultra Series Guides. We've already covered two guides in the Ultra Series so far, if you've missed either of those and would like to catch up go back up here, I will link a card for you so you can check them out. There is an introduction to the Ultra Series to help give you an understanding of what to expect when you're going into this new format and a Primal Kyogre guide as well to give you a better understanding of what to expect from that specific Pokemon and understand how to build around it and what different angles you can approach when applying that Pokemon into this new series. So in today's guide, we're going to look at Primal Groudon, very excited about it. Primal Groudon is an extremely strong Pokemon. We saw some examples in our last guide with Primal Kyogre, how useful that can be and what you can do to support it and what its limitations are as well and how you can exploit them if you are going up against it. And we'll do a similar thing with the Groudon guide today. So we'll get into that in just one moment. But before we do, as always, if you enjoy this content, make sure you drop a like on the video, make sure you do subscribe to the channel so you don't miss any of these guide series when they do drop as well as our daily battle series, our flinch squad circuit, our stream uploads and everything else, VGC and Pokemon related that we have on the channel. But without further ado, guys, let's get into this one today. I hope you enjoy it and without further ado, let's start by taking a look at a Pokemon overview. As you can see, we've got Groudon on your screen. This is a Pokemon overview. Groudon is now a fire and ground type Groudon in the previous format was just a ground type, but now with that Primal Reversion, it gets access to a fire typing, making it even stronger than what it was. So it's a fire ground type. Primal Groudon has the ability Desolate Land when it Primal Reverts as well, getting rid and overriding that drought ability. It keeps its base speed of 90, but does get a big buff elsewhere. You can see it's based that total here. If we just go through a hundred base HP, 180 attack, 160 defense, 150 special attack, 90 special defense and 90 speed, you're going to have some differences in the type strength and weaknesses now because of that fire typing that it does obtain when it does Primal Revert. You can see here it's got weaknesses now to ground and a four times weakness to water, it has that immunity to electric and does resist poison, bug, steel, fire and the big one. Ferry now with that fire typing. That is a huge, huge advantage for Groudon going into this format. Zonius, as we all know, is one of the biggest threats going into this format and being able to resist those very type attacks and hit back for really strong damage because of that base, 180 attack stat that it has on its side is something that you can utilise now to deal with Zonius quite effectively. Now, just to explain the desolate land before we go any further, desolate land, as I say, does overwrite the drought ability. It is a variation of sun. We've covered the majority of what these effects are in our introduction guide. So you can go back over there and check that out if you'd like to learn a little bit more about desolate land, but you are going to keep all of the same effects that you get with drought. You're going to keep the advantage with chlorophyll users, solar power users and everything else in between. You're still affected by airlocking cloud nine. The big, big bonus here for desolate land is going to be stopping any water type attacks as long as desolate land is active on the field and desolate land will stay active on the field until Groudon is switched out till Groudon feints or another primal weather is switched into overrided being primordial sea or that delta stream from mega requires. So this gives us a basic overview of Groudon before we jump into anything. We're getting straight into the tasty parts of this guide. We're going to start off with a sample set. So the first guy that we're going to take a look at today is the standard offensive set. So you can see here that we are running just no speed investment on this primal Groudon. We're going with a raw speed stat of 110. We've got an adamant nature here. We've got an EV spread of 252 HP, 252 attack and four special defense. So nothing fancy here. Obviously holding that red orb that Groudon needs to primal river into primal Groudon, we're going to have a move set of precipice blades, fire punch, sword stance and protect just to give you an idea of the offensive calcs here on this primal Groudon. You can see a 252 attack primal Groudon, precipice blades versus a four HP, no defense. Zernius is a guaranteed to hit kill. That is pretty impressive. So knowing that Zernius can boost up in front of you from the next calculation, fire off a moon blast and you can pick up and knock out pretty cleanly in two hits with that precipice blades as long as it hits. So just the defensive calculation example that we've got here is a plus two, 252 special attack fairy or a boosted Zernius moon blast versus this particular Groudon is a guaranteed to hit kill. So meaning the turn that Zernius decides to Geomancy, you can precipice blades. The next term where it goes for the moon blast, it's only doing between fifty seven and sixty seven percent. So as long as you hit that next precipice blades, you can guarantee the knockout on Zernius. It's a pretty nice calculation and just shows an example of how bulky this primal Groudon is in particular with that fire typing that it's got access to. Now it's restricted partners. You're going to see some options here. Zernius is going to be probably the number one restricted partner that you're going to see with Groudon. Some other options that are going to be things like Ultranocrosman that can come from Duskman, Nekrosma Dawnwings, Nekrosma before it, Mega Evolves, and then something else that you're going to see more of those meme-y gravity teams, but something to consider anyway is going to be Curam White. Non-restricted partners, though, you're going to see Salamence. It offers Tailwind support. It offers Intimidate support. It is an extremely good switching for Primal Groudon in front of other Primal Groudons that do threaten it. Incinero is well paired with Groudon. It can take advantage of that. Sun, it's got the dark typing. It's got Intimidate, Fakeout support to give Groudon a little bit of room. And Smeagol is something else that I would stick on the end there, because Smeagol's utility and support options that it has access to within this format is still going to be very good at supporting both Primal Groudon and Zernius if you see that pairing together. Pokemon checks that you're going to see against Primal Groudon. Enemy number one is going to be Primal Kyogre. If Primal Kyogre comes in on the field, it will overwrite that desolate land ability with Primordial Sea and it will start to threaten Groudon pretty quickly with those four time week water type attacks that it can throw out a Groudon boosted by the rain. Mega Requizer is going to be another one. It's a bit like Mega Salamence. It does resist those precipice blades. It can come in and overwrite the desolate land with its Delta Stream ability or airlock pre mega evolution. It can also resist the fire punches as well as Groudon can throw up because of its dragon typing and set up pretty easy in front of it with something like a sword stance and start threatening Primal Groudon or whatever is next to it on the field. Another check that you're going to see and not so much a check, but something that will be causing so much disruption to Primal Groudon is Cracellia, it's so bulky, it will resist those precipice blades. It can easily take those fire punches and it can disrupt with speed control, icy wind, trick room, skill swap to support something next to it like the Primal Groudon, so they're common things that you will maybe see together going into this format and things that you need to be aware of if you are playing Groudon, have certain checks for these Pokemon to support Groudon a little bit better. So that is the first set that we will be looking at today. The next set we're going to look at is a trick room and tailwind set. So this is a very bulky Primal Groudon. We're going to run a careful nature on it. We've got an EV spread of 148 HP, 28 attack, 60 defense, 252 special defense and 20 speed, so a raw speed stat, like we say, that 113 and that can take advantage of trick room and tailwind. We're going to go for that same move set. Again, a physical set, precipice blades, fire punch, sword stands and protect. You can always interchange the sword stands out for something like substitute or rock slide if you do feel the need for it there, but just to give you an idea of some of the offensive cult on this particular Groudon, a plus two, 28 attack, Primal Groudon, precipice blades versus a 252 HP. No defense Primal Groudon is a guaranteed one hit girl. So if you can get that sword stand set up with your Primal Groudon, you know, with your precipice blades, you will be able to take down an opposing Primal Groudon pretty easily before it can do too much to you. And a defensive cult just to give you an idea of what the special defense cult can do on top of everything else, a 252 plus special attack Primal Groudon this is a modest Primal Groudon Earth Power versus this particular Groudon is a guaranteed two hit kill. So Primal Groudon because of its buff to its base special attack stat going up to 150 can now take advantage of things like eruption and Earth Power. So things to be very aware of if you are running up against an opposing Primal Groudon because they can be a special variant and that can be something you can fall into the trap of trying to intimidate. It's not going to have any effect. They can throw out an Earth Power and pick up a quick hit also. You need to be aware of that. This Groudon is a lot more sturdy, so it is going to be able to take those attacks a little bit better than your normal Groudon builds. You're going to see partners here, restricted partners. In particular, you're going to see Lunala, something like Primal Kyoga in that dual Primal team makeup is going to be something that players all going to tend to run in this type of Groudon can work quite nicely in that dual Primal combination there and also Sogaleo as well can work quite nicely with Groudon because of its steel typing, its access to trick room, its access to why God to protect Groudon and deal quite easily with some of the threats that you do see in this format. Non-restricted partners, you're going to see, especially if you're running that dual Primal core, Mega Minetric is something that really performs very well with its fast pivot, its lightning rod and intimidate that it has access to to support the Primal Groudon and Primal Kyoga. Bronzong's another one to support that Primal combination between Groudon and Kyoga and then Tapifini is something else that really does help support this Primal Groudon. It has access to icy wind, nature's madness, heel pulse, swagger, a flurry of support options to really make sure that this Groudon is supported well and performing to the best of its ability. Going to have Pokemon checks here as examples. You're going to see something like Mega Salamence. It's such a good switch in as we've already mentioned to Primal Groudon and resisting the fire punches and being immune to the precipice blades just allows Salamence to come in, set up its own speed control if it wants to and start really threatening with those hyper voices that it commonly carries. Yveltal is going to be another Pokemon that threatens Primal Groudon pretty heavily. You've got a big defense stat on Groudon, but you've still got to be very careful around Yveltal, not being able to hit it for very good damage with those precipice blades because of the immunity there. And the fire punches is something that you have to rely on, especially if you're going to see something like Yveltal. Primal Kyogre, if you see that Kyogre switching, then you're pretty stuck against being able to hit this Yveltal for super effective damage. And like we've already outlined as well, Primal Groudon is a threat to other Primal Groudons because of that ground weakness. So you need to be careful around opposing Primal Groudons if you are playing your own and make sure you are dealing with him and supporting adequately when going into matches. So that is the trick room until when set that we're going to have a look at and we'll look at our final set, which is going to be a special variant of Primal Groudon like we've already mentioned. It does get that buff to its special attack stat. Now going up to base one hundred and fifty and it does have access to some nice options on the special spectrum rather than just all physical. So we're going with a modest nature here. We're going with a speed stat of one hundred and forty two. Ev spread was super simple. Just four HP, two five two special attack, two five two speed. We're going with a move set of eruption, earth, power, hidden power, ice that can be interchanged for overheat if you want a more reliable fire type attack outside of eruption and protect offensive calcs. Here you're going to see a two five two special attack. Primal Groudon earth power versus a two five two HP. No special defense Primal Groudon is a pretty much guaranteed one hit go. You've got an eighty seven point five percent chance to pick up the knockout on your standard Primal Groudons. So if you can get any little bit of chips, say from a mega Salomon type of voice or something along those lines, then you know you're going to be able to pick up the knockout pretty cleanly with this particular Primal Groudon. Defensive Calcure just to give you an example of what the defense capabilities are of this Groudon without really any investment. You can see a two five two attack Primal Groudon precipice blades versus this particular Groudon is a guarantee to hit kill. So on most situations, if you're going up against a slower Primal Groudon, you're going to be able to beat it most of the time. If it does come down to a one on one situation. Restricted partners here, you're going to see things like Yveltal in 2016. We saw Arash and Marty have a lot of success on a national level with the combination of Primal Groudon, Yveltal, and it is a very strong combination Yveltal can provide tailwind support can deal with a lot of the things that Groudon does struggle against and just generally be a nice pairing and a nice switch in for Groudon's weaknesses. Going to see other restricted partners like Ho Ho. Again, it's going to be able to take advantage of that desert land ability with that harsh sunlight to an advantage of those sacred fires that can fire out. It's again, got tailwind. Again, going to be a nice switch into Primal Groudon, ground threats that are coming out at you. And then the last example here is going to be Palkia, which does resist and has a really nice time against Primal Kioga, which is one of the primary threats that Groudon has to deal with. Then you're going to see non-restricted partners. Interesting choices here. You're going to see Mega Metagross that we have access to that now in this format. Something that you might want to look at it does has a lot of options next to Primal Groudon and could be a mega that you want to take advantage of. And you can see Jumpluff as well with that chlorophyll ability. Again, another combination that you saw on that Arash and Marty team from 2016 paired with that Yveltal with the chlorophyll. It has access to sleep powder and other options like Encore and tailwind and just is a very strong support option for something like Groudon and has that ground immunity as well. That's really important to help support Groudon in a really tight situation. And then Tabukoko is going to be something else that can partner nicely with Groudon with the electric terrain, giving you immunity to sleep moves. And it also gives you that option to new mega requiser with a potential Perineum Z and also the Electrium Z that can new Primal Kioga if we do see that hit the field. Pokemon checks, you're going to see things like Mega Latios or Mega Latios are going to be things that really do wall Primal Groudon pretty hard. It's a levitate ability makes sure that they're not taking any damage from those ground type attacks that would be otherwise very threatening. And also being part dragon does mean that it can take and deal with those fire type attacks even in that desolate land harsh sunlight. So they're going to have a really easy time against Primal Groudon for the most part. Landar Aetherian is going to be able to outspeed Primal Groudon. It has got access to intimidate going to be immune to those ground type attacks. And it is going to threaten back pretty hard with a Z move potentially or just general earthquakes being thrown out from this Pokemon that Groudon is not going to like sitting in front of and taking another Pokemon to check if you have not got any rock coverage at all. It's going to be horrible. Now, you're not going to be doing so much damage to it. And it's not going to be doing so much damage to you. But the fact is that you cannot really do too much to it. If you haven't got any rock coverage or something in your team to check that Pokemon, probably not going to see too many hauls in this format, but we can't say so early on how reliable that is. And if all gets access to regenerate or at some point in this format, then you can see its popularity coming back and becoming a lot more present in the format. So something that you do need to keep an eye on. Make sure you do have checks in your team to deal with it. So you're not just dead waiting in front of it, not being able to do anything while it sets up support options for partnering Pokemon like Tailwind or something like that. So that is the slot and bulky set. We're going to get on to the next part of this guide, which is some sample teams for you guys to go away with and try out and get you started within the Ultra series. So you've got the first sample team is going to be that really common ground on Zernia's build. We've got the Incinero, Salamence and Mungus and Tabukoko making up the combinations there. We've got the second sample team ground on Yveltal. We've already mentioned that you've got the Mega Metagross in there, which gives a bit of additional support against things like Zernia's. That could otherwise be a bit more threatening for Yveltal. And then the third sample team down below is going to be ground on Lunala. So three variations of primal ground on teams that you can take away and test and they're all slightly different. They've got similar support options within them. But I think for the most part, a lot of the small options you need are going to be quite similar to supporting ground on, but some different variations there to have a go with and get you started playing primal ground on in the Ultra series. So the poker pace and the raw pace will be down in the description. And if you do have a try with them, I hope they do you well. And they're getting into the Ultra series as easy as possible. So they are the sample teams for this guide and we're going into our last part, which is always going to be the counters and summary table. So just to give you an overview once again, before we finish up, primal ground on is that fire ground type. It has the desolate land ability. It has a max speed of 156 minimum speed of 85. Common speed you're going to see on most primal ground on. So it's going to be around that one 10 speed mark support checklist that you need to have when building around a primal ground on. So you're going to need speed control ground on again, a bit like primal Kyogre, it's a bit middling speed. There's a lot of Pokemon faster than a lot of Pokemon slower than it. So you're going to need some speed control to help crowd on function. Fake out support is generally very good to help you get momentum. Change your board position up whenever you can to start getting that speed control in place to help crowd on setup and just alleviate some pressure when you're in a really tight position. Water resists are super important in this team. Ground resists as well are something that are very important that I haven't mentioned, but I would definitely put alongside this water resists switching because you're going to need something. If primal ground is out on the field, primal Kyogre comes in and you need to switch out. But you have to take a water type attack in the meantime. So what you want to do is have primal ground on out and know that you've got. OK, I've got mega salamence in the back. It can come in, take a water spout more comfortably than some of the other options that you might be looking at in your team. Something like Tappi Finney is perfect for that. Something like a Moongus is perfect for that. You can switch those in. They can take and absorb the big water type attack so you can get ground and back in, disrupt their weather and start gaining momentum yourself. It's the same for the ground type attacks. Have something like salamence on your team that you can switch into an opposing primal ground on its precipice blades. Just to alleviate that pressure until you've got your speed control set up, get your ground on back in and then start doing the same thing from your end. Redirection is something that is going to be very useful for ground on and because of that primal weather, the desolate land having pivot options in your team is going to be extremely useful. Having something like a fast Volt switch user, a fast U-turn user or vice versa with a slow Volt switch or a slow U-turn are going to be very useful for being able to just position ground on well and make sure that you are maintaining control of that weather. And then we can look at some Pokemon threats here. You've got primal ground on, lander is Therian, primal Chialga, Xerneas even is a threat because even if it gets set up, you've got to remember that primal ground on can only take so many moon blasts and if your opponent is supporting the Xerneas with intimidate support, then things can get quite tricky, especially if they have a bulky Xerneas that can take a number of precipice blades or if you haven't got a reliable way to hit it. A wide guard is a thing. You need to be aware that Xerneas is a threat. No matter what Pokemon you've really got out on the field in this format because these moon blasts are plus two going to be doing a lot of damage. So making sure that you've got real secure Xerneas checks going into this format is going to be super important, even with Pokemon that do resist their attacks. Yveltal is going to be something else that you need to check for because, as I say, with that ground immunity, it's an easy switch in on to ground on and start threatening with those big dark type attacks pretty easily and do some nice damage and really start to disrupt your side of the field and Cure on White is going to be something else that primal ground on does need to watch out for slightly. It's got access to that Earth Park can be very threatening in the right situation. So something just to be a bit aware of. You're going to see the Pokemon walls here. You're going to see Mega Salamence is going to be something that really walls primal ground on quite a lot. You're going to see Mega Latias, Rayquaza, Hoho and Lugia all if you have not got any sort of ice coverage for certain options there or rock type coverage for the other ones. And the last option on the end we've tagged on is Zygarde Complete Form. It's going to be able to resist those fire type attacks that Groudon can throw out and especially if your opponent has intimidate support, those precipice blades are not going to be doing enough damage to Zygarde that you would need to it's got access to coil. And if it's got something like heal pulse support next to it as well, it can be very disruptive. You're just not going to be able to get the damage onto it that you need to. So that is something to watch out for as well. But that wraps up the primal ground on guide for today, guys. I hope you've enjoyed it. I hope it's been very beneficial for you going into the Ultra Series. Remember, this isn't kind of an introduction to the Ultra Series to help you get an understanding of what these Pokemon can do, give you some sample teams to take away and test out in the format and just get you familiar with how to play things and get you started in the Ultra Series to the best of my ability that I can without over complicating everything in the process. So I do hope you have enjoyed it, guys. It's been a pleasure as always. Thank you so much for tuning in and we'll be back with another guide very soon in the next one. We'll be covering mega requires are one of my favorite Pokemon that we've got access to going into the Ultra Series. So I can't wait for that. Hope you can't wait either. Do leave your comments in the comment section below and I look forward to reading through those as soon as you leave them and getting back to you as soon as I can. So thank you so much once again, guys. Have a great day, morning, afternoon, whatever time of day it is. And I'll see you for the next one. So until then, take care and bye bye.