An ADV OU team from a bad ADV OU player

Adamant Zoroark

catchy catchphrase
is a Contributor Alumnus
Okay, so I have a DPP OU RMT that is currently on the front page, but it was posted about 2 weeks ago so I think it's okay for me to post this. I apologize if it isn't.

Anyway, I posted this team on PO's forum a few days ago, but it hasn't been getting any rates so I figured I'd post it here to see what kind of advice I get. Anyway, I have struggled in ADV OU for a very long time. Until a week or so ago, I never won a single battle. Previously I had been trying out teams that were as offensively oriented as I could get them because my preferred team style in DPP and BW is heavy offense. So, I decided that I was going to have to go out of my comfort zone. Really far. So far that I probably wasn't going to be comfortable with it. This team has the most defensively oriented Pokemon I have ever used on any team: Four. As an offensive player, it's kind of far out of my comfort zone, but it works and I actually kind of like it.



If I was going to use any offensive Pokemon, it would have to be Salamence. With no Choice Scarf or Ice Shard in ADV, it's not like you'll actually be revenge killing it. Of course, being stuck with using HP Flying for STAB sucks, but it's still good.



I wanted a Spikes user. Skarmory and Forretress just go get trapped by Magneton, and I wanted one that would, I dunno, not get trapped by Magneton. Oh hey, Cloyster! Cloyster lets me set up Spikes, which makes it easier to allow Salamence to weaken bulky waters in preparation for a Dragon Dance sweep (pretty easy to weaken Swampert who runs around everywhere)



I decided to try out Magneton, thinking initially that it would help Salamence sweep by removing Skarmory.



Vaporeon was my sort of "OH MY GOD I NEED A BULKY WATER THAT CAN ACTUALLY EFFECTIVELY CHECK SALAMENCE AND STUFF" Pokemon. Most people use Swampert for that, but Vaporeon has reliable recovery, giving me enough of a reason to use it and not Swampert.



I had to use Dugtrio on this team. In the past, I had previously only gotten anywhere close to success by using it, so I knew I was going to have to use it to have even a remote chance of success.



Weezing is kind of a mediocre Pokemon. However, I needed something that would be able to check CurseLax. I know Perish Song Celebi is normally better at this, but I felt that if I used it, I would be weaker to Heracross and Aerodactyl, among other Pokemon.



When I actually tested the team, I was seeing a huge weakness to Electric-types, especially Zapdos. So, to manage this, I decided to add Blissey on the team and it's been working out very nicely. It also gives me a halfway decent wall to Gengar, while before I was really having trouble with it.




Salamence (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Salamence is my "FUCK YOU I WIN" Pokemon. Okay, not literally, but coming from an offensive background I knew I would need to use a set-up sweeper. Best set-up sweeper in ADV OU? Salamence! That's the only reason people really use bulky waters. Early in the game I go for Hidden Power Flying to weaken their bulky water, and if I've set up Spikes, weakening the waters is much easier. Once I've weakened the opponent's Water-type enough (usually Swampert who is pretty easy to weaken), I can set up Dragon Dance and sweep. However, it does suck having to use Weak Power Flying for STAB, but at least it's a STAB Hidden Power. Earthquake gives me an option against Tyranitar while I can cover Zapdos with Rock Slide.



Cloyster (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 56 SAtk / 200 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Explosion

Cloyster is actually a really good Spikes user. It isn't trapped by Magneton, which means I won't lose my Spikes user to a trapper. In addition, I can use Rapid Spin as well (similar to Forretress), which helps since I have four grounded Pokemon and Dusclops isn't as common as it once was. As for the attacking moves, Ice Beam is my chosen STAB move because if I think they're going to go out to Zapdos or something that can beat it, I'll probably go for that. It also helps me weaken Gengar switch-ins, because using Explosion early in the game is probably one of the dumbest things you can do.



Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Def / 52 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Aromatherapy
- Softboiled
- Seismic Toss
- Ice Beam

Blissey is probably at its best in ADV. I've used it in BW, where I think it's a piece of shit due to the power creep, while I never found it particularly difficult to kill in DPP. However, because there ADV was before any power creep (as well as there being no special Fighting-type moves here) makes Blissey very difficult to kill here. If you saw my team building process, you'll see I was originally using Magneton, which I found was being worn down too quickly by Electric-types for my tastes (aka Zapdos was 3HKOing it with Thunderbolt), so I changed it to Blissey. Blissey has been working out amazingly on this team. It gives me a real way of beating Zapdos, gives me something that can even have a chance of checking Jolteon, while also being able to counter Gengar (no Focus Blast!). I already have Vaporeon using Wish, so I probably wouldn't need Wish on Blissey. Aromatherapy would help me if my Salamence gets burned or something. Seismic Toss lets me break a Raikou's sub or something, while I use Ice Beam to actually be able to hit Gengar, especially because Blissey is my only Pokemon that can really take it on.



Vaporeon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- Ice Beam

I use Vaporeon on this team to be able to switch in on opposing Salamence, and not using a bulky water in ADV is like asking to be swept. I don't really like using Swampert because of how reliant it is on teammates without RestTalk (which is ass). Vaporeon, on the other hand, can stay alive on its own! Huh, what a concept. Anyway, you know, Bold nature and Defense investment to actually switch in on Salamence, and use Ice Beam to get rid of it. Surf is there for STAB because I'd like to be able to handle Metagross and stuff.



Dugtrio (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Aerial Ace

Dugtrio is kind of my team's glue. It allows me to handle Tyranitar, which Dugtrio can do with ease because it outspeeds +1 DDTar. In addition, it can trap Celebi (when weakened), Heracross, Breloom, Raikou, and Metagross (I think Metagross needs to be weakened though). I don't think I need to explain this set much, it's pretty basic: Choice Band to increase power, Earthquake for STAB, Rock Slide to hit Flying-types, HP Bug for Celebi, Aerial Ace for Heracross/Breloom.



Weezing (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Sludge Bomb
- Haze
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Weezing is a really mediocre Pokemon. Regardless, I needed something to beat Curselax, while if I use something like Perish Song Celebi, I'll have a harder time with Aerodactyl (Weezing can burn it), and have just Dugtrio to handle Heracross, which only works if I can sacrifice something.

So, yeah. Sludge Bomb for STAB, and is also Weezing's best option for Snorlax (it's physical this gen!). Haze gets rid of Snorlax's boosts, which is great to make it much easier to handle. Will-O-Wisp lets me cripple Snorlax until it uses Rest, while I can use Pain Split to heal against it.



Well, that's the team. Hope you enjoyed it and any advice is greatly appreciated (though please keep in mind I just barely got the hang of ADV recently)
 
I don't play ADV and I never have, but I have read the Smogon analyses before and I can definitely say I know almost nothing about the metagame.

I think it was you, I rated your Lucario team with a mixed Flygon?

Anyway, I decided to search for threats and I just thought about the sets I've seen before when I was bored and looking at ADV mons. SubPunch Gengar can hit 5/6 of your team super-effectively, the odd one being Weezing, and I don't see what Weezing could possibly do to Gengar.
I would love to help you identify a solution, but I suck more.

In fact, BoltBeam can hit 4/6 of your team super effectively, which could be a problem when trying to switch in.

Sorry for the terrible rate, I just wanted to rate something.
 

Adamant Zoroark

catchy catchphrase
is a Contributor Alumnus
SubPunch Gengar isn't really common anymore, so I'm not too concerned. Having Ice Beam on Blissey helps too, meaning it has a much harder time setting up a Substitute. If I've set up Dragon Dance with Salamence, Gengar isn't winning. BoltBeam is also handled by Blissey. Yeah, Blissey's a pretty important member on this team.
 

destinyunknown

Banned deucer.
Hey, this team is decent but I don't think you are going anywhere by using spikes and not a spinblocker, since Forretress or Starmie can easily come on Blissey, Cloyster and Vaporeon and removing them from their side. Since Weezing is a very niche Pokemon and it's set up fodder for Spikers or Pokemon like Tyraniboah (who can simply sub against it) I would recommend using Gengar instead of it. Gengar is a very threatening pokemon due to it's unpredictability, high Special Attack and Speed. Furthermore, it can block Rapid Spin, which is very helpful for your team. Gengar and Salamence can still check Heracross and other Fighting types quite decently, so that's not much of an issue, and Gengar can be a decent CurseLax check, as most of them don't run Shadow Ball.

Gengar@Leftovers | Levitate
Timid Nature | 172 HP / 148 SpA / 188 Spe
Thunderbolt / Ice Punch / Will-O-Wisp / Explosion


However, you are still a bit weak to Snorlax, as Gengar is just a shaky check, and Snorlax can usually stall Gengar out. Regice, despite being uncommon, it's also a pretty big threat since it basically walls your entire team. While I understand how much you like Dugtrio, it doesn't help your team purpose much, since the pokemon it's removing are easily checked by Blissey, Vaporeon or Salamence (in the case of Blissey). Dugtrio also doesn't help at all with your issue with Stall teams, as none of your teammates is really benefited from the removal of Blissey. Considering that, you could use Choice Band Metagross instead of Dugtrio. Metagross can check Pokemon like SubCM Jirachi or Snorlax, which you currently struggle against, while posing as a big offensive threat to the opposing team. This is even better thanks to Spikes, as bulky waters will have a hard time taking hits from Metagross if Spikes are up. Metagross can also Explode on Skarmory / the opponent's bulky water, meaning Salamence will have his counters removed. Here's the set

Metagross@Choice Band | Clear Body
Adamant Nature | 252 HP / 244 Atk / 12 Def
Meteor Mash / Earthquake / Explosion / Rock Slide


Hope I helped!
 

Adamant Zoroark

catchy catchphrase
is a Contributor Alumnus
I like Gengar, but my attempts to use it as a CurseLax check all failed miserably. Non-Shadow Ball CurseLax can't do much to it, yes, but Snorlax has massive Special Defense which means Gengar's probably not accomplishing much. I probably will use Gengar, but I'll probably end up using something alongside it that can actually check Curselax reliably (i.e. Perish Song Celebi). I used CB Metagross before and I don't really like it, so if I end up using Metagross I'll probably end up using HPGross (I like its ability to use HP Grass against Swampert).
 

destinyunknown

Banned deucer.
Well, you can run Taunt over Explosion on Gengar to take down non Shadow Ball CurseLax via residual damage (that is, burn it and Taunt to stop Snorlax from using Rest). Remember Taunt only lasts 2 turns in Adv and that there's no message to say ''Taunt effect ended'' nor something of the like.

CBGross with Spikes is usually enough to take Swampert out, and you can take advantage of Swamp via Cloyster anyway... I suppose it's a personal preference thing but I believe CB is the superior set for Metagross in this team.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top