--> UPDATED TEAM BELOW THE ORIGINAL IMPORTABLE <--
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Introduction
Hello! I'm a relatively new face here at Smogon - I've only been here for about a year and a half - but I've made up for it with quality posts and insane learning speeds. Heck, I even got into OU VR once upon a time, and I'm still allowed in Policy Review. I've been trying my hand at Pokemon's old gens, focusing on DPP and GSC, but dabbling in all the others as well. And to dabble in a tier, you need a team. As such, I set out on a quest to build a decent team for each generation. This was my ADV attempt, and I think it turned out surprisingly well, given that it's only on its second/third draft and that it's my first ADV team ever built. In fact, I think it's at a point where I'm willing to try and improve it further, and hone it into a tournament-caliber team. That's where this comes in - to get second opinions and to find stuff I overlooked. Though hopefully, I didn't even need to make this in the first place... (interesting fact, this was built in the NBS teambuilder. I apparently like it more than PO's.)
Teambuilding Process
I decided to start out with a Pokemon I felt comfortable with, and since I was hot off the heels of GSC, that Pokemon would be Curselax. I felt like I knew how to use him, and how to build with him, so it seemed like a good starting point.
I noticed that two of Snorlax's main counters - Skarmory and Metagross - were Steel-types, and easily trapped and taken care of. Since trappers are to ADV as Electrics are to GSC, Magneton seemed like a no-brainer choice - and it ended up working out, giving me a lot of synergistic opportunities for my team.
One of those synergistic opportunities was to forgo HP Fire for HP Grass if a Pokemon on your team already dealt with Forretress. While Snorlax technically fulfills that, it baits a Boom, and saying that it's my main win condition, I didn't think that would be the best option. DD Salamence instead sets up all over Forretress, and also gave me a secondary win condition and a Ground immunity, as well as a wincon that couldn't be dealt with by Dugtrio.
At this time, I was lacking a Rock resist, and had problems with Gengar and Celebi. Tyranitar was an easy fix to that, and it helped that it doubled as a Swampert lure.
Remember how I said I was hot off the heels of GSC? My next thoughts were that A.) I needed a wallbreaker and B.) WHERES MY GODDAMN LAX ANSWER?!? I naturally went to Heracross as my next Pokemon. I also thought it was absolutely hilarious how Choice Band Focus Punch is standard.
Since my team seemed to both get worn down easily by Spikes and appreciated Spikes support, Cloyster was my next addition to the team. The fact it both hit TTar hard and held Boom also appealed to me. This is the first draft of the team.
At this moment, I got in a conversation with user Cowboy Dan, and the first thing to come up was the lack of Rock resists, my only resists being Tyranitar and the frail Magneton. My team didn't end up supporting Heracross that much, while Metagross both gave me another Rock resist and helped Salamence with her job. This is the second draft of the team. Later on, we decideed to replace DDMence with Jolly CB Mence to better deal with DDTar. I still say it's the second draft of the team.
Personal Team
Species: Cloyster | Gender: Male
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Shell Armor
Effort Values: 252 HP / 16 Defense / 88 Special Attack / 148 Special Defense / 4 Speed
Nature: Bold
Imperfect Individual Values: 0 Attack
Moves: Spikes / Rapid Spin / Surf / Explosion
Cloyster serves as a decent lead, as it can potentially get up early spikes if it has a good matchup, and if it doesn't have a good matchup, I most likely have a proper switch-in waiting. While its longevity is still a slight nuisance as in GSC, it still seems to hang around enough to do its job and Boom on something, with the best prize for this team being Swampert. Cloyster has been pulling his weight in pretty much every single game I've played so far, even if it's not and exceptional performance. While he may not be for most teams, he's still a solid support Pokemon. It also helps that as a migrant from GSC, I feel more comfortable using him.
Species: Metagross | Gender: N/A
Item: Choice Band | Ability: Clear Body
Effort Values: 252 HP / 236 Attack / 12 Defense / 8 Speed
Nature: Adamant
Imperfect Individual Values: 30 Defense / 30 Special Attack / 30 Speed
Moves: Earthquake / Explosion / Hidden Power / Meteor Mash
Metagross is one of two wallbreakers on my team (three if you count Cloyster with Boom), and a good one at that. It both hits hard and gets a lot of switch-in opportunities, and makes Dugtrio's life hell if it tries to switch in. Although, if I'm not locked into Earthquake, Magneton's going to have its way with it, and since I don't have a Dugtrio to punish that, I have to play it more carefully than I would like to. Hidden Power Fire is mainly used as a Skarmory and Forretress lure to free up Magneton or to even keep it unrevealed, though Sludge Bomb could be another possible option.
Species: Tyranitar | Gender: Female
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Sand Stream
Effort Values: 188 HP / 240 Special Attack / 80 Speed
Nature: Modest
Imperfect Individual Values: 2 Attack / 30 Defense
Moves: Fire Blast / Hidden Power / Ice Beam / Pursuit
Tyranitar has certainly evolved from the swiss army knife I've come to know and love in GSC. Instead of feeling like I'm using a shaky Pokemon trying to do too many things, I feel like I'm using a solid Pokemon that knows exactly what she can and cannot do, and do it well. Fire Blast is used both to round off coverage and lure steels in the same way HP Fire Metagross does, and for about the same reasons. HP Grass lures Swampert, when Magneton or Cloyster can't really deal with it.
Species: Salamence | Gender: Female
Item: Choice Band | Ability: Intimidate
Effort Values: 252 Attack / 4 Defense / 252 Speed
Nature: Jolly
Imperfect Individual Values: 30 HP / 30 Attack / 30 Defense / 30 Special Attack / 30 Special Defense
Moves: Brick Break / Earthquake / Hidden Power / Rock Slide
When Cowboy Dan mentioned this set to me, I almost instantly broke out in a smirk. Not only did it seem powerful in that it both hit hard, gave 0 fucks about Dugtrio, had good coverage, and forced a lot of switches, but the prospect of outspeeding and OHKOing +1 DDTars gives me a feeling that can only really be matched by successfully hitting Celebi with HP Bug with Keldeo in BW/ORAS. It feels almost evil, and you can't help but get almost manic when the time comes. I simply could not pass this up, especially when it synergized with my team.
Species: Snorlax | Gender: Male
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Thick Fat
Effort Values: 144 HP / 68 Attack / 132 Defense / 164 Special Defense
Nature: Adamant
Imperfect Individual Values: None
Moves: Body Slam / Curse / Earthquake / Rest
The king himself. I know this Pokemon inside and out, its possibilities and its shortcomings, when it is safe to stay in and Curse again, when it's time to bust out Rest, and when to stop cursing and start attacking. It's what I'm used to, and it's what I'm sticking with. Earthquake leaves him vulnerable to Gar, which can potentially be a problem since my only real way to deal with it is TTar, but it hits a lot of Normal resists hard, and it's what I'm used to. I just feel right when I'm using this mon... not to mention powerful when I whip it out as an unrevealed last Poke, since unlike GSC, my opponent doesn't know exactly what that last Pokemon is.
Species: Magneton | Gender: N/A
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Magnet Pull
Effort Values: 68 HP / 252 Special Attack / 188 Speed
Nature: Modest
Imperfect Individual Values: 30 HP / 2 Attack / 30 Special Attack
Moves: Hidden Power / Substitute / Thunderbolt / Toxic
If there's problem that stands out to me the most about this team, it would be a possible over-reliance on Magneton. However, it still does its job fantastically, freeing up a lot of my team to do what they will. I was toying around with trying out SalacEndure, but decided against it. HP Grass acts as a type of "lure" for Swampert (I put it in quotations since it can probably be predicted from team composition), freeing up a large part of my team to do what they like. Sometimes I've thought of switching to Dugtrio, and every time I've decided against it. It certainly consistently pulls its weight, though, so I'm happy with it no matter what.
Importable:
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Introduction
Hello! I'm a relatively new face here at Smogon - I've only been here for about a year and a half - but I've made up for it with quality posts and insane learning speeds. Heck, I even got into OU VR once upon a time, and I'm still allowed in Policy Review. I've been trying my hand at Pokemon's old gens, focusing on DPP and GSC, but dabbling in all the others as well. And to dabble in a tier, you need a team. As such, I set out on a quest to build a decent team for each generation. This was my ADV attempt, and I think it turned out surprisingly well, given that it's only on its second/third draft and that it's my first ADV team ever built. In fact, I think it's at a point where I'm willing to try and improve it further, and hone it into a tournament-caliber team. That's where this comes in - to get second opinions and to find stuff I overlooked. Though hopefully, I didn't even need to make this in the first place... (interesting fact, this was built in the NBS teambuilder. I apparently like it more than PO's.)
Teambuilding Process
I decided to start out with a Pokemon I felt comfortable with, and since I was hot off the heels of GSC, that Pokemon would be Curselax. I felt like I knew how to use him, and how to build with him, so it seemed like a good starting point.
I noticed that two of Snorlax's main counters - Skarmory and Metagross - were Steel-types, and easily trapped and taken care of. Since trappers are to ADV as Electrics are to GSC, Magneton seemed like a no-brainer choice - and it ended up working out, giving me a lot of synergistic opportunities for my team.
One of those synergistic opportunities was to forgo HP Fire for HP Grass if a Pokemon on your team already dealt with Forretress. While Snorlax technically fulfills that, it baits a Boom, and saying that it's my main win condition, I didn't think that would be the best option. DD Salamence instead sets up all over Forretress, and also gave me a secondary win condition and a Ground immunity, as well as a wincon that couldn't be dealt with by Dugtrio.
At this time, I was lacking a Rock resist, and had problems with Gengar and Celebi. Tyranitar was an easy fix to that, and it helped that it doubled as a Swampert lure.
Remember how I said I was hot off the heels of GSC? My next thoughts were that A.) I needed a wallbreaker and B.) WHERES MY GODDAMN LAX ANSWER?!? I naturally went to Heracross as my next Pokemon. I also thought it was absolutely hilarious how Choice Band Focus Punch is standard.
Since my team seemed to both get worn down easily by Spikes and appreciated Spikes support, Cloyster was my next addition to the team. The fact it both hit TTar hard and held Boom also appealed to me. This is the first draft of the team.
At this moment, I got in a conversation with user Cowboy Dan, and the first thing to come up was the lack of Rock resists, my only resists being Tyranitar and the frail Magneton. My team didn't end up supporting Heracross that much, while Metagross both gave me another Rock resist and helped Salamence with her job. This is the second draft of the team. Later on, we decideed to replace DDMence with Jolly CB Mence to better deal with DDTar. I still say it's the second draft of the team.
Personal Team
Species: Cloyster | Gender: Male
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Shell Armor
Effort Values: 252 HP / 16 Defense / 88 Special Attack / 148 Special Defense / 4 Speed
Nature: Bold
Imperfect Individual Values: 0 Attack
Moves: Spikes / Rapid Spin / Surf / Explosion
Cloyster serves as a decent lead, as it can potentially get up early spikes if it has a good matchup, and if it doesn't have a good matchup, I most likely have a proper switch-in waiting. While its longevity is still a slight nuisance as in GSC, it still seems to hang around enough to do its job and Boom on something, with the best prize for this team being Swampert. Cloyster has been pulling his weight in pretty much every single game I've played so far, even if it's not and exceptional performance. While he may not be for most teams, he's still a solid support Pokemon. It also helps that as a migrant from GSC, I feel more comfortable using him.
Species: Metagross | Gender: N/A
Item: Choice Band | Ability: Clear Body
Effort Values: 252 HP / 236 Attack / 12 Defense / 8 Speed
Nature: Adamant
Imperfect Individual Values: 30 Defense / 30 Special Attack / 30 Speed
Moves: Earthquake / Explosion / Hidden Power / Meteor Mash
Metagross is one of two wallbreakers on my team (three if you count Cloyster with Boom), and a good one at that. It both hits hard and gets a lot of switch-in opportunities, and makes Dugtrio's life hell if it tries to switch in. Although, if I'm not locked into Earthquake, Magneton's going to have its way with it, and since I don't have a Dugtrio to punish that, I have to play it more carefully than I would like to. Hidden Power Fire is mainly used as a Skarmory and Forretress lure to free up Magneton or to even keep it unrevealed, though Sludge Bomb could be another possible option.
Species: Tyranitar | Gender: Female
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Sand Stream
Effort Values: 188 HP / 240 Special Attack / 80 Speed
Nature: Modest
Imperfect Individual Values: 2 Attack / 30 Defense
Moves: Fire Blast / Hidden Power / Ice Beam / Pursuit
Tyranitar has certainly evolved from the swiss army knife I've come to know and love in GSC. Instead of feeling like I'm using a shaky Pokemon trying to do too many things, I feel like I'm using a solid Pokemon that knows exactly what she can and cannot do, and do it well. Fire Blast is used both to round off coverage and lure steels in the same way HP Fire Metagross does, and for about the same reasons. HP Grass lures Swampert, when Magneton or Cloyster can't really deal with it.
Species: Salamence | Gender: Female
Item: Choice Band | Ability: Intimidate
Effort Values: 252 Attack / 4 Defense / 252 Speed
Nature: Jolly
Imperfect Individual Values: 30 HP / 30 Attack / 30 Defense / 30 Special Attack / 30 Special Defense
Moves: Brick Break / Earthquake / Hidden Power / Rock Slide
When Cowboy Dan mentioned this set to me, I almost instantly broke out in a smirk. Not only did it seem powerful in that it both hit hard, gave 0 fucks about Dugtrio, had good coverage, and forced a lot of switches, but the prospect of outspeeding and OHKOing +1 DDTars gives me a feeling that can only really be matched by successfully hitting Celebi with HP Bug with Keldeo in BW/ORAS. It feels almost evil, and you can't help but get almost manic when the time comes. I simply could not pass this up, especially when it synergized with my team.
Species: Snorlax | Gender: Male
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Thick Fat
Effort Values: 144 HP / 68 Attack / 132 Defense / 164 Special Defense
Nature: Adamant
Imperfect Individual Values: None
Moves: Body Slam / Curse / Earthquake / Rest
The king himself. I know this Pokemon inside and out, its possibilities and its shortcomings, when it is safe to stay in and Curse again, when it's time to bust out Rest, and when to stop cursing and start attacking. It's what I'm used to, and it's what I'm sticking with. Earthquake leaves him vulnerable to Gar, which can potentially be a problem since my only real way to deal with it is TTar, but it hits a lot of Normal resists hard, and it's what I'm used to. I just feel right when I'm using this mon... not to mention powerful when I whip it out as an unrevealed last Poke, since unlike GSC, my opponent doesn't know exactly what that last Pokemon is.
Species: Magneton | Gender: N/A
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Magnet Pull
Effort Values: 68 HP / 252 Special Attack / 188 Speed
Nature: Modest
Imperfect Individual Values: 30 HP / 2 Attack / 30 Special Attack
Moves: Hidden Power / Substitute / Thunderbolt / Toxic
If there's problem that stands out to me the most about this team, it would be a possible over-reliance on Magneton. However, it still does its job fantastically, freeing up a lot of my team to do what they will. I was toying around with trying out SalacEndure, but decided against it. HP Grass acts as a type of "lure" for Swampert (I put it in quotations since it can probably be predicted from team composition), freeing up a large part of my team to do what they like. Sometimes I've thought of switching to Dugtrio, and every time I've decided against it. It certainly consistently pulls its weight, though, so I'm happy with it no matter what.
Importable:
Cloyster (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 88 SAtk / 148 SDef / 4 Spd
IVs: 0 Atk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Explosion
Metagross @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Atk / 12 Def / 8 Spd
IVs: 30 Def / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Meteor Mash
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 188 HP / 240 SAtk / 80 Spd
IVs: 30 HP / 2 Atk / 30 SAtk
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Ice Beam
- Pursuit
Salamence (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
IVs: 30 HP / 30 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SAtk / 30 SDef
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Brick Break
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Rock Slide
Snorlax (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 144 HP / 68 Atk / 132 Def / 164 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Body Slam
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Rest
Magneton @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 68 HP / 252 SAtk / 188 Spd
IVs: 30 HP / 2 Atk / 30 SAtk
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
Trait: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 88 SAtk / 148 SDef / 4 Spd
IVs: 0 Atk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Explosion
Metagross @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Atk / 12 Def / 8 Spd
IVs: 30 Def / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Meteor Mash
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 188 HP / 240 SAtk / 80 Spd
IVs: 30 HP / 2 Atk / 30 SAtk
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Ice Beam
- Pursuit
Salamence (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
IVs: 30 HP / 30 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SAtk / 30 SDef
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Brick Break
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Rock Slide
Snorlax (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 144 HP / 68 Atk / 132 Def / 164 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Body Slam
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Rest
Magneton @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 68 HP / 252 SAtk / 188 Spd
IVs: 30 HP / 2 Atk / 30 SAtk
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
UPDATED TEAM:
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Species: Swampert | Gender: Male
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Torrent
Effort Values: 252 HP / 216 Defense / 40 Special Defense
Nature: Relaxed
Imperfect Individual Values: None
Moves: Protect / Curse / Earthquake / Rock Slide
Swampert blanket-checks the physical attackers that overwhelm this team, such as Tyranitar and Aerodactyl. My team also doesn't really benefit much from Spikes, so Cloyster wasn't doing much anyway. A Curse set is run to add a secondary sweeper to the team, take physical hits better, and hit that much harder if I need to. Rock Slide is run to round off coverage, but mostly to deal with Gyarados.
Species: Metagross | Gender: N/A
Item: Lum Berry | Ability: Clear Body
Effort Values: 252 HP / 4 Attack / 252 Special Attack
Nature: Quiet
Imperfect Individual Values: None
Moves: Pursuit / Explosion / Psychic / Meteor Mash
Pursuit Metagross is actually really impressive - nobody expects it, and it simply blindsides a lot of players. It even does work if the opponent does know the set - its STABs still hit hard, Psychic catches people off guard coming from the Special side, and Explosion does what Explosion does best.
Species: Flygon | Gender: Female
Item: Choice Band | Ability: Levitate
Effort Values: 252 Attack / 4 Special Attack / 252 Speed
Nature: Naive
Imperfect Individual Values: 30 Attack / 30 Defense / 30 Special Defense
Moves: Earthquake / Rock Slide / Hidden Power / Fire Blast
Flygon helped me deal with my Dugtrio problem, while retaining a Bander for the team. It can also hit Celebi on a good prediction, which this team enjoys.
Species: Salamence | Gender: Female
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Intimidate
Effort Values: 24 Attack / 232 Special Attack / 252 Speed
Nature: Rash
Imperfect Individual Values: 30 Attack / 30 Special Attack
Moves: Hidden Power / Fire Blast / Brick Break / Dragon Claw
Mixmence was recommended to me since I already have Choice Band Flygon; it also acts as a Swampert lure and cleans up weakened teams pretty well. Dragon Claw is used over Rock Slide since I already have two Rock Slide users.
Species: Snorlax | Gender: Male
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Thick Fat
Effort Values: 144 HP / 68 Attack / 132 Defense / 164 Special Defense
Nature: Adamant
Imperfect Individual Values: None
Moves: Body Slam / Curse / Earthquake / Rest
No change here.
Species: Magneton | Gender: N/A
Item: Leftovers | Ability: Magnet Pull
Effort Values: 68 HP / 252 Special Attack / 188 Speed
Nature: Modest
Imperfect Individual Values: 30 HP / 2 Attack / 30 Special Attack
Moves: Hidden Power / Substitute / Thunderbolt / Toxic
No change here.
Importable:
Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Protect
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Metagross @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Pursuit
- Explosion
- Psychic
- Meteor Mash
Flygon (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Fire Blast
Salamence (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 24 Atk / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Fire Blast
- Brick Break
- Dragon Claw
Snorlax (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 144 HP / 68 Atk / 132 Def / 164 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Body Slam
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Rest
Magneton @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 68 HP / 252 SpA / 188 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Protect
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Metagross @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Pursuit
- Explosion
- Psychic
- Meteor Mash
Flygon (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Fire Blast
Salamence (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 24 Atk / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Fire Blast
- Brick Break
- Dragon Claw
Snorlax (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 144 HP / 68 Atk / 132 Def / 164 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Body Slam
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Rest
Magneton @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 68 HP / 252 SpA / 188 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
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