Hello, I'm going to be honest, I'm not super experienced with this tier having only picked it up a few weeks ago so I'm going under the assumption that this team is not very good. The main purpose of this thread is to learn more about the ADV NU meta from your replies, as I have grown quite fascinated with it, and to maybe end up with a functional team by the time all is said and done. In ADV OU I've always preferred more stallish teams to offensive ones and when I saw Piexplode's rmt and saw that stall was not only possible in this tier but also had some nifty pokemon to use, I wanted to give it a go. As a result, this team is fairly heavily influenced by Piexplode's team.
At a Glance
Hitmonchan:
Hitmonchan (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Sky Uppercut
- Hidden Power [Ghost]
- Mach Punch
The team leads with what I understand to be the tier's best pokemon, hitmonchan. I decided to use the rapid spinner set as glalie has a couple of set up opportunities vs this team, and I have a number of spikes vulnerabilities which is not good for a team that is trying to last. I chose to lead with it in order to counter lead glalie. Sky uppercut gives me a fairly reliable and very powerful STAB, mach punch allows me to deal with flail users, and HP ghost allows me to hit haunter hard, while also hitting sableye for more than nothing. Despite the more passive nature of the rapid spin set, this thing still hits like a truck. It is also deceptively bulky especially on the special side.
Roselia:
Roselia (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 60 SpA / 196 SpD
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Synthesis
Roselia was chosen as my spiker, and seemed like a fairly obvious choice being the defensive spiker of the tier. Spikes are important for this team as they are one of my primary methods of dealing damage, and they seem very effective in this tier thanks to the lack of rapid spinners. Leech seed gives roselia something to do once spikes are down and prevents it from being set up bait. HP grass gives roselia some offense and can actually hit decently hard against those that are weak to it. Synthesis gives me some reliable recovery, although it would be nice if it had more PP. The ev spread has enough spA to give relicanth a good chance of KOing huntail for the revenge kill, with the rest pumped into spdef to try and take Ice beams from huntail as well as possible.
Sableye:
Sableye (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 208 Def / 36 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Toxic
- Knock Off
- Recover
Sableye rounds out the core providing spin blocking support. Being used to gengar in ou, i was wowed by how insanely reliable this thing is as a spin blocker. Spinmonchan really can't do anything to it so as long as this guy is alive and relatively healthy, my spikes are there to stay. Outside of this it has other uses as well. No weaknesses combined with immunities to some common STABs in the tier, combined with recover and decent defenses makes this thing incredibly resilient. It can be annoying as hell with toxic and especially knock off which is really effective in conjunction with spikes. Shadow ball allows me to hurt things like chimecho and haunter, while giving me a STAB attack to use after I've crippled whatever is in against me with toxic and/or knock off. The evs are copied from piexplode. I don't really know the best way to ev stuff in this tier effectively and his seemed to fit well with what I was trying to do.
Chimecho:
Chimecho (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
- Heal Bell
- Hidden Power [Dark]
I needed more than just one answer to hitmonchan and I also needed a beller, chimecho fits both of these roles perfectly. Originally I had a toxic protect set however I found the set just wasn't dangerous enough. The threat of toxic didn't scare many things due to the prevalence of heal bell and aromatherapy users in the tier. With HP dark I can threaten non HP dark chimecho offensively, and calm mind boosted HP darks also help lure in and weaken opposing sableye so that hitmonchan can get a spin off. The EVs maximize physical bulk in order to have an easier time countering hitmonchan although I feel they probably could be optimized.
Flareon:
Flareon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Flamethrower
- Roar
- Wish
- Protect
Flareon acts as a special wall to compliment roselia, it takes on the offensive grass types with ease. Even if it gets put to sleep, they can't kill it before it wakes up. Flamethrower provides a reliable and very strong STAB, wish and protect allow it to heal itself as well as others on the team. Chimecho and hitmonchan often appreciate the extra recovery. Roar allows me to phaze out chimecho, and also gives me an answer to baton pass shenanigans. The evs maximize special defense in order to take on chimecho to the best degree possible.
Relicanth:
Relicanth (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Relicanth is the team's bulky water and primary physical wall. Originally I had whisash in this spot however I found that Choice band flying types, particularly murkrow were troublesome without a flying resist. I went with a sleep talk set in order to maximize longevity and to prevent me from having to switch out should i get statused. Quake slide gives me solid coverage with relicanth's STAB rock slide and good offenses. The speed evs allow me to speed creep against huntail. Ideally I should be able to hit huntail with hp grass from roselia, then switch to relicanth on the resisted ice beam proceed to kill it with rock slide, then backsweep with the speed boost from huntail's rain. I pumped the rest of the evs into attack in order to help KO huntail. I found its defense was so good already that I didn't need investment in it. Putting evs into attack increases its offensive potential and this thing actually hits like a truck. Despite this being the newest addition to the team it has proven itself to be quite effective.
Weaknesses:
The main weaknesses I've found so far have been to specially offensive flareon, and of course huntail which has been the bane of pretty much every team I've tried to build in this tier. Glalie can be annoying as well when it is paired with sableye as it has an easy time spiking vs this team. HP Dark chimecho can also be an issue as my own chimecho can't beat it with its ev spread without getting very lucky, and all I have left is sableye (which is a shakey counter at best) and flareon (which can only roar it out). I'm sure there are other weaknesses I have not encountered yet, and I am looking forward to your responses to see what I can do to try and fix them.
Importable:
At a Glance
Hitmonchan:
Hitmonchan (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Sky Uppercut
- Hidden Power [Ghost]
- Mach Punch
The team leads with what I understand to be the tier's best pokemon, hitmonchan. I decided to use the rapid spinner set as glalie has a couple of set up opportunities vs this team, and I have a number of spikes vulnerabilities which is not good for a team that is trying to last. I chose to lead with it in order to counter lead glalie. Sky uppercut gives me a fairly reliable and very powerful STAB, mach punch allows me to deal with flail users, and HP ghost allows me to hit haunter hard, while also hitting sableye for more than nothing. Despite the more passive nature of the rapid spin set, this thing still hits like a truck. It is also deceptively bulky especially on the special side.
Roselia:
Roselia (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 60 SpA / 196 SpD
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Synthesis
Roselia was chosen as my spiker, and seemed like a fairly obvious choice being the defensive spiker of the tier. Spikes are important for this team as they are one of my primary methods of dealing damage, and they seem very effective in this tier thanks to the lack of rapid spinners. Leech seed gives roselia something to do once spikes are down and prevents it from being set up bait. HP grass gives roselia some offense and can actually hit decently hard against those that are weak to it. Synthesis gives me some reliable recovery, although it would be nice if it had more PP. The ev spread has enough spA to give relicanth a good chance of KOing huntail for the revenge kill, with the rest pumped into spdef to try and take Ice beams from huntail as well as possible.
Sableye:
Sableye (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 208 Def / 36 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Toxic
- Knock Off
- Recover
Sableye rounds out the core providing spin blocking support. Being used to gengar in ou, i was wowed by how insanely reliable this thing is as a spin blocker. Spinmonchan really can't do anything to it so as long as this guy is alive and relatively healthy, my spikes are there to stay. Outside of this it has other uses as well. No weaknesses combined with immunities to some common STABs in the tier, combined with recover and decent defenses makes this thing incredibly resilient. It can be annoying as hell with toxic and especially knock off which is really effective in conjunction with spikes. Shadow ball allows me to hurt things like chimecho and haunter, while giving me a STAB attack to use after I've crippled whatever is in against me with toxic and/or knock off. The evs are copied from piexplode. I don't really know the best way to ev stuff in this tier effectively and his seemed to fit well with what I was trying to do.
Chimecho:
Chimecho (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
- Heal Bell
- Hidden Power [Dark]
I needed more than just one answer to hitmonchan and I also needed a beller, chimecho fits both of these roles perfectly. Originally I had a toxic protect set however I found the set just wasn't dangerous enough. The threat of toxic didn't scare many things due to the prevalence of heal bell and aromatherapy users in the tier. With HP dark I can threaten non HP dark chimecho offensively, and calm mind boosted HP darks also help lure in and weaken opposing sableye so that hitmonchan can get a spin off. The EVs maximize physical bulk in order to have an easier time countering hitmonchan although I feel they probably could be optimized.
Flareon:
Flareon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Flamethrower
- Roar
- Wish
- Protect
Flareon acts as a special wall to compliment roselia, it takes on the offensive grass types with ease. Even if it gets put to sleep, they can't kill it before it wakes up. Flamethrower provides a reliable and very strong STAB, wish and protect allow it to heal itself as well as others on the team. Chimecho and hitmonchan often appreciate the extra recovery. Roar allows me to phaze out chimecho, and also gives me an answer to baton pass shenanigans. The evs maximize special defense in order to take on chimecho to the best degree possible.
Relicanth:
Relicanth (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Relicanth is the team's bulky water and primary physical wall. Originally I had whisash in this spot however I found that Choice band flying types, particularly murkrow were troublesome without a flying resist. I went with a sleep talk set in order to maximize longevity and to prevent me from having to switch out should i get statused. Quake slide gives me solid coverage with relicanth's STAB rock slide and good offenses. The speed evs allow me to speed creep against huntail. Ideally I should be able to hit huntail with hp grass from roselia, then switch to relicanth on the resisted ice beam proceed to kill it with rock slide, then backsweep with the speed boost from huntail's rain. I pumped the rest of the evs into attack in order to help KO huntail. I found its defense was so good already that I didn't need investment in it. Putting evs into attack increases its offensive potential and this thing actually hits like a truck. Despite this being the newest addition to the team it has proven itself to be quite effective.
Weaknesses:
The main weaknesses I've found so far have been to specially offensive flareon, and of course huntail which has been the bane of pretty much every team I've tried to build in this tier. Glalie can be annoying as well when it is paired with sableye as it has an easy time spiking vs this team. HP Dark chimecho can also be an issue as my own chimecho can't beat it with its ev spread without getting very lucky, and all I have left is sableye (which is a shakey counter at best) and flareon (which can only roar it out). I'm sure there are other weaknesses I have not encountered yet, and I am looking forward to your responses to see what I can do to try and fix them.
Importable:
Hitmonchan (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Sky Uppercut
- Hidden Power [Ghost]
- Mach Punch
Roselia (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 60 SpA / 196 SpD
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Synthesis
Sableye (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 208 Def / 36 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Toxic
- Knock Off
- Recover
Chimecho (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
- Heal Bell
- Hidden Power [Dark]
Flareon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Flamethrower
- Roar
- Wish
- Protect
Relicanth (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Sky Uppercut
- Hidden Power [Ghost]
- Mach Punch
Roselia (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 60 SpA / 196 SpD
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Synthesis
Sableye (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 208 Def / 36 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Toxic
- Knock Off
- Recover
Chimecho (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
- Heal Bell
- Hidden Power [Dark]
Flareon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Flamethrower
- Roar
- Wish
- Protect
Relicanth (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk