Team ANIMALS

[Triangles]

This team is currently very standard, and always does a good job. There are quite a few good players using similar teams to this, especially the Forretress Gengar PursuitTar core which everyone and their dog is using. In fact, I’ve played against quite a few teams where the difference is only one Pokemon. I got to 2 on the ladder with this team, but then forgot how to play Pokemon. The idea behind the team is to gain hazard control and then capitalize on it by phazing and then cleaning with Screechgon or Calmcune. I don’t want to make any huge ceremony of this – just some constructive criticism. Anyway – be vicious about rating, as improvement is the idea.


Gengar (M) @ Leftovers ** GHOST
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 180 Spd / 88 SAtk
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Ice Punch
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
I lead off with this because really nothing else is suited to leading (I led with Cune for a bit when it was SubCM). Taunt + Will-O-Wisp makes an annoying combo for stall breaking and it makes EQ Curselax cry. There’s quite a bit of bulk on there because it is a spinblocker, and it needs to stay alive for the success of the team. It makes up part of that Forretress Gengar Pursuit Tyranitar core which works so well.


Forretress (M) @ Leftovers ** SPIKE BALL
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Rapid Spin
- Spikes
Forretress is nice for hazard control alongside Gengar and TTar. Explosion can put dents in stuff. I chose Earthquake over HP Bug because I’d prefer to hit a cocky Magneton on the switch than provide an offensive presence against Celebi. Lots of Special Defense, because Forretress is actually a pretty useless physical wall – it can’t phaze, and dies to Utilitylax’s FB. I’d prefer to be able to set up my Spikes on the likes of Milotic’s Surfs.


Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers ** DINOSAUR
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Roar
- Rock Slide
No Fire Blast because this team laughs at Skarmory and Forretress. No HP Grass because Swampert can't do anything to this team. Roar is a cool thing I saw CrashingBoomBang use in some tour games and it works great, especially with the comparatively bulky spread I’m using here. I briefly used Earthquake over Roar for some specialised targets, but Roar often does the trick. Tyranitar is great for getting rid of Ghosts and letting Forretress do its stuff.


Zapdos @ Leftovers ** BIRD
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Spd / 220 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Rest
- Roar
- Sleep Talk
- Thunderbolt
No HP Grass because I still beat Swampert by PP stalling with Pressure. Roar for a very boosted Calmcune (or a SubCMCune) and also Calm Mind Rachi and racking up Spikes damage. I use RestTalk to absorb status, which the team is otherwise abysmal at doing. This needs to kinda stay alive for the team to work well, as it checks many threats to my team that I really struggle against otherwise.


Flygon (M) @ Leftovers ** DRAGON
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Bug] / Substitute
- Rock Slide
- Screech
Screech is kinda filler - I've never liked Sub, and Fire Blast is pointless because Skarmory and Forretress do jack shit to this team, and the latter dies to many EQ's eventually. Flygon is great alongside Spikes – I sometimes use Sub over HP Bug and/or change up my EV spread to something slightly more defensive (or use Jolly over Adamant), but the sentiment is the same – wear Bulky Waters down with Spikes, Screech and have ‘em think twice about staying in, Earthquake.


Suicune @ Leftovers ** DOG
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 8 Spd / 68 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Ice Beam
- Rest
- Surf
In because Calmcune has no weak and I need a decent Mence counter. This guy often orchestrates a comeback somehow. This was once SubCMCune but I found that that died too quickly, especially in Sand. Another Bulky Water such as Swampert or Milotic could potentially go here (Swampert might be quite good because it covers HP Ice Raikou, which I struggle with otherwise), but I find that this guy is often the one who saves the team from its demise.

 

[Iconic]

Given the prevalence of lead Pursuit Tyranitar, you're going to quite often start off 6-5 and without a spinblocker. I would suggest you instead lead with your own Tyranitar to prevent Gengar getting trapped so early. I'm not exactly sure you need Crunch so you could always run Hidden Power Grass on it because Swampert can be somewhat of a nuisance because while it 'can't do much' to your team, you lack really many options to hurt it.

If you keep Gengar as your lead then definitely give it Destiny Bond over Taunt so you can at least take down lead Tyranitar with you. I don't really think lead Gengar needs Taunt that badly, while being able to take down Tyranitar is a huge help especially since it's often many team's best answer to your Zapdos.

Just little nitpicks, I'm not much of an ADVer lol.

 

[Triangles]

Admittedly Gengar doesn't match up well against the dead common lead TTar and I get Pursuited to death quite often, so I might switch my lead to either my own TTar or something else, probably Flygon. I'm currently testing both. I'm gonna take on your suggestion of not leading with Gengar, and as such I'm keeping my Gengar set the same. Leading and what you lead with isn't that big a deal in ADV as it is in DPP, but in this case it's probably advisable due to bad matchups against other leads in general. On TTar, I've used HP Grass over Crunch a couple of times, but I prefer Crunch as Swampert, once it's seen Pursuit, is often scared out and it takes Spikes damage. Swampert can't switch in on TTar and Flygon forever, and Suicune stops it cold (Gengar also beats non Hydro-Pumping variants), and it's scared of Zapdos until it sees Roar and even then it still loses through Pressure stall eventually. Also, Crunch adds that extra level of insurance, and dead ghosts make me a happy man. Thanks for the rate - Triangles.