I went with Dylan Salvanera's 15th place team from Dallas:
Looking at the mons, terrain control is a positive, and bulk is the notable standout that ties a lot of these Pokemon together. The theme I went for in this team was "keeping the opponent off balance" - I approached it offensively with strong sweepers like Tapu Koko, Kartana, and Garchomp, and defensively/supportively in bulky tanks like Tapu Fini, Muk-Alola, and Arcanine.
As a whole, this team is set up for bulky offense, and packs a variety of checks and counters to common meta offerings that may be served up. Its versatility allows for a wide array of lead pairings, meaning that the picking mindgame at battle's start actually gives this team a little advantage - using it, you can conceivably run most permutations of four given the right matchups. I wanted to build on the non-obviousness of the four that will be brought to any given game by setting up lots of opportunities to wear down opposing teams - including stuff like Nature's Madness on Fini, Knock Off on Muk, Snarl on Arcanine, and three recovery items to really give opposing teams a hard time breaking through the bulky core of this squad.
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Taunt
- Protect
Tapu Fini @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 68 Def / 140 SpA / 52 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Moonblast
- Nature's Madness
- Heal Pulse
Kartana @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Protect
Muk-Alola @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 244 Atk / 44 Def / 20 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Shadow Sneak
- Protect
Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 132 SpA / 164 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Snarl
- Roar
- Protect
Garchomp @ Groundium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Poison Jab
- Protect
So that's my Homework Assignment! I think I have a decent grasp of the VGC meta, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there are things I'm missing. Please fill me in!
Looking at the mons, terrain control is a positive, and bulk is the notable standout that ties a lot of these Pokemon together. The theme I went for in this team was "keeping the opponent off balance" - I approached it offensively with strong sweepers like Tapu Koko, Kartana, and Garchomp, and defensively/supportively in bulky tanks like Tapu Fini, Muk-Alola, and Arcanine.
As a whole, this team is set up for bulky offense, and packs a variety of checks and counters to common meta offerings that may be served up. Its versatility allows for a wide array of lead pairings, meaning that the picking mindgame at battle's start actually gives this team a little advantage - using it, you can conceivably run most permutations of four given the right matchups. I wanted to build on the non-obviousness of the four that will be brought to any given game by setting up lots of opportunities to wear down opposing teams - including stuff like Nature's Madness on Fini, Knock Off on Muk, Snarl on Arcanine, and three recovery items to really give opposing teams a hard time breaking through the bulky core of this squad.
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Taunt
- Protect
Standard Life Orb Koko set. Only has one viable Discharge partner on the team so Thunderbolt is used instead. Dazzling Gleam gets good STAB and the spread damage fits with the team theme of wearing down opposing cores. Taunt is there to shut down Trick Room or other bulky setups (CM Fini, Curse Muk, DD Gyarados), or even to screw with Pelipper's Tailwind if facing a double duck lead. EVs are standard with the last 4 in HP for bulk (putting it in a defense stat doesn't change LO recoil or hail/sand damage at all).
Tapu Fini @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 68 Def / 140 SpA / 52 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Moonblast
- Nature's Madness
- Heal Pulse
Fini is fat and hits hard, making it the perfect mon for this Bulky Offense team. It underspeeds Koko (so it can set up Misty Terrain in a double Tapu lead), and generally gives a lot of support utility to the rest of the team with Misty Terrain. Hydro Pump and Moonblast are hard-hitting single-target STABs - I imagine Tapu Fini will elicit lots of Wide Guards from opponents expecting Surf or Muddy Water, which can hopefully throw them off balance. Given Misty Terrain, Hydro Pump is picked over Scald as the single-target move of choice since the burn wouldn't usually happen anyway. Nature's Madness dents anything I don't have a dedicated answer for. Since Fini underspeeds everything bar Muk on this team, proper prediction around Heal Pulse can refill Koko, Kartana, Arcanine, or Garchomp on a predicted non-fatal hit, and of course giving Muk a top-off isn't the worst idea either. Given HP EVs make it divisible by 16, given SpA EVs assure the Hydro Pump OHKO on 252/0 Alolawak and 36/0 Krookodile. 52 SpD prevents the OHKO from a Modest Tapu Koko Thunderbolt in Electric Terrain and a Modest Xurkitree Thunderbolt, allowing Fini to put a big dent in something on its last legs. 4 Speed EVs creeps other Fini; the rest is thrown into Defense.
Kartana @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Protect
Standard Kartana with a Sash is a hard counter for double duck (I'll gladly sack a Kartana for your Golduck, tyvm). It also ruins Gastrodon with Leaf Blade, hits the Tapus hard with Smart Strike, and chunks P2 for almost half with Sacred Sword. Since it's so fast, it functions best as a lategame cleaner, hanging out in the back and coming in to finish the job. Oftentimes the threat of it even being brought will keep Gastrodon out, clearing the way for Fini to spam Hydro Pump (and possibly freeing up Koko to spam Thunderbolt). EVs are max Attack & Speed, with 4 HP to hit an odd number.
Muk-Alola @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 244 Atk / 44 Def / 20 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Shadow Sneak
- Protect
This is basically just PokeAlex's London International set, with Curse swapped for Shadow Sneak. Knock Off fits well with the team's motto of "keep them reeling," and Poison Jab plus the given 244 Attack EVs snags the OHKO on opposing Tapu Koko sans Defense investment. Shadow Sneak lets it pile on another chunk of chip damage before going down, and also lets it pick off sashed foes who unexpectedly survived. The rest of the EVs maximize its bulk for a whole host of defensive scenarios - taking Gyarados Hydro Vortex, Tapu Lele Moonblasts, Sun Specs Torkoal Eruptions, Araquanid Liquidations, and Alolawak Bonemerangs. Gluttony + Figy Berry + an even HP stat mean that Figy gets set off when Muk dips to half or below, setting it off on Nature's Madness or Super Fang. Removing foes' items can be super useful to the rest of the team, and allows Muk to play hell with obvious enemy switches.
Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 132 SpA / 164 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Snarl
- Roar
- Protect
Arcanine is my multipurpose "weakener" Pokemon - using Intimidate and Snarl to reduce the damage output of enemy teams quickly. Burns aren't useful with Misty Terrain around, so Roar replaces Will-O-Wisp from the standard set and serves as a secondary counter to Trick Room setters (as well as a very balance-shifting move to click when you know your opponent is going to switch their Intimidated Pokemon out to an Arcanine counter). I went with Overheat here instead of Burn Up because of its reusability. HP EVs bring Arcanine to 192, a Leftovers number. Speed EVs put Arcanine at 149, outspeeding max Xurkitree, and the rest are thrown into SpAtk - with the added bonus of nabbing a clean 2HKO on standard 180/148 Celesteela, and an OHKO on 252/0 Tapu Bulu 93% of the time.
Garchomp @ Groundium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Poison Jab
- Protect
Standard Z-Garchomp is a terror. EQ always hits things hard, and the ability to turn it into a one-time single-target nuke is worth its weight in gold, especially in Grassy Terrain. Dragon Claw minces other Dragons and hits neutral targets and switch-ins decently hard, while Poison Jab cleans up Tapus. EV spread is standard, bar the 4 put into SpD in lieu of HP so Chomp keeps an odd HP stat. With 4 EQ-weak teammates he has to be careful spamming it, but can usually get a KO or two in a given match. Chomp is a very threatening lead, and really keeps the offensive pressure on opposing teams.
So that's my Homework Assignment! I think I have a decent grasp of the VGC meta, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there are things I'm missing. Please fill me in!