Help me with my VGC 2021 (Series 8) 'Lap Dog' team!

Question

I've been trying to build around the Lapras/Zacian core and I'd love some help with filling in the final details.

Lapras-Gmax @ Light Clay
Ability: Water Absorb
Gigantamax: Yes
EVs: 204 HP / 4 Def / 196 SpA / 4 SpD / 100 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Perish Song
- Hydro Pump
- Freeze-Dry

Basic Lapras set. Light clay is to maximize Zacian's turns behind veil, since you generally don't lead it, and to assist with perish song endgames.

Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Behemoth Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance

Bulky zacian that gets the nature bump and outspeeds the incarnate genies. Swords dance is questionable, but pretty nice with screens, dual intimidate, and rage powder to pull it off.

Amoonguss @ Focus Sash
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 236 HP / 172 SpD / 100 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Pollen Puff
- Rage Powder
- Spore

A semi-turbo shroom since I still had the focus sash available.

Incineroar (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 HP / 60 Atk / 84 Def / 110 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Parting Shot
- Fake Out
- Snarl

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Fly
- Rock Slide

Mostly a matchup fixer for things like sun and Solgaleo.

Regieleki @ Life Orb
Ability: Transistor
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Electroweb

The electric type I chose, since the coverage is valuable and eleki is so good in general.

I like the archetype of Lapras/Doggo/Amoonguss/dual intimidate/electric type a lot, but I just had some questions about a few things.

First, is it worth dropping the special defense on Amonguss and committing to a full 'turbo shroom?' An interesting thing is that max speed Amoonguss outspeeds Solgaleo at + 2, so leading it next to Landorus is a pretty good way of dealing with an otherwise problematic matchup, but many of these teams have a Tapu Fini, and less bulk on Amoonguss can come back to bite you in other matchups, so I'm just not sure if it's worth it.

Second, Is my Incineroar set okay? Calyrex-S can be a problem for the team, and Incineroar can help, but not if they have mud shot. I've seen AV Incin to snarl it down, but parting shot is so valuable that I'm not sure if it's worth it.

Finally, should I be using a different electric type? Eleki's power and speed control is nice, but it's kind of frail, even with screens. I've seen other teams use things like Zapdos and Thundurus, the latter of which can help with intimidate spam against Zacian, and also Calyrex if I use an AV + Lash Out set. The only problem with this is that these mons want to max a lot more than eleki, which can cause some conflict.

All suggestions are appreciated! Thank you!

Answer 1

I would just say that Solgaleo and most other steel types are still a threat despite the presence of Landorus. e.g. Solgaleo can steelspike (it's faster than Landorus or slower in TR, you don't know), raise its defense and comfortably tank a max quake which will proc its WP.

The lack of taunt is pretty scary because otherwise, you don't have anything for TR teams so I'd choose taunt over snarl, despite Calyrex-Shadow's threat to the team which you can fix by e-web + Zacian or Lapras aurora veil is enough for your team to live its attacks.

1) Full turbo shroom has always been one of my favourite spreads, but don't do it simply because it's way too inconsistent and you won't be able to outspeed that much anyways. I'd suggest running some speed to outspeed things like 0 speed Calyrex if you want to outspeed common TR mons, but otherwise, I wouldn't commit to the full-turbo shroom although it really comes down to whether you find it more optimal when testing.

2) I've already covered Incineroar's taunt over snarl. I'd mainly suggest this because you already have Regieleki to lower its speed and KO it quite comfortably with Zacian.

3) I'd recommend sashed Eleki because it will be a 2HKO most of the time anyways. Regieleki has a good match up against common mons such as Kyogre and Calyrex which the rest of your team really struggles against. I liked running electrowebs/volt switch/eerie impulse, not too sure if you want to try it out as well.

Hope I helped, but testing is definitely what you should try as of now.