This was originally part of a larger, spread-out post that covered gens 1-5, but constant procrastination (after a demoralizing loss in progress due to lost draft), multiple tier shifts, and the advent of Olympiad 2, I'd decide to just focus on delivering the initial inspiration for the post: my Olympiad 1 teams and a fun Mon in pre-unfreeze that had cool potential. I was pretty excited to play ADV when it was decided to be included and with it being in a team tour environment, there was a lot of cool stuff to be seen or tried out. It was also interesting to see other players' take on the meta firsthand.
Week 1 vs JonAmon 25, Paradox Dustox
Game 1 (T)
Game 2 (W)
After the unexpected Game 1 tie, BP passed me a pretty similar team with a few Mon changes which ended up securing a good foothold in the early game. There was too much pressure from Magnemite without anything to cleanly answer it, allowing for it to control a good portion of the game. Two clean and solid teams to start off the season with.
Week 2 vs JabbaTheGriffin, Paradox Pablos
(W)
I had an idea for a lead Seaking set that would act as an early-to-mid-game breaker which I brought out here. Hidden Power Rock and Lum berry effectively let you destroy lead Butterfree or similar mons, Delibird and Masquerain for instance, without having to commit to Hydro Pump accuracy or falling short with Ice Beam's damage. Castform and Shuppet also brought Twave support for Cubone (and Shuppet itself) to have an easier time wearing down the opponent's walls. Castform and Lileep also made for good blanket checks to both SpDef and PhysDef mons respectively. I wanted to shore up my revenge killing capabilities, especially versus Elekid, so I locked in Petaya Luvdisc for the last slot. I'm very fond of Luvdisc simply because it offers a very secure endgame route vs offensive teams relying on fast stuff like Aipom and Elekid, without having to participate in speed ties myself.
Week 3 vs OranBerryBlissey10, Zealous Outlaw Oinkologne
(W)
Agility Masquerain and Bagon were two Mons I really wanted to use and iirc I think OBB had some teams that were typically weak to this type of offense, which is also probably why I had Salac Delibird as well (although I generally believe non-Band is better nowadays anyway). I'm really not fond of using Band Aipom, so I always opt'd for Silk Scarf or Lum whenever I used it. I often would bluff band as well since it's the most go-to set in the tier. I'd likely revisit this team again and shore up the weaknesses to fast Electrics that are very present, stuff like Elekid can easily walk through this once it gets in cleanly.
Week 4 vs Medeia, Pignite in Flight
(L)
If I recall, this week was the first time Wailmer was used yet multiple teams brought it out this week for essentially the same thing. I had Roar specifically for lead Butterfree, which Wailmer cannot prevent Sleep Powder from barring a freeze. Roaring Butterfree out turn 1 would also provide me more team info from my opponent, potentially pulling in something that Wailmer really throttles like ground-types. I also wanted to try running Meowth in conjunction with Sunflora for a sneaky Sun sweep setup. The team is definitely more experimental than what even I'm used to, but I've had friends find success with this team on the ADV ZU ladder which was kinda surprising to me.
Week 5 vs plznostep, Trailblaze Thwackeys
(W)
I wanted to use Larvitar
after Mediea smashed my team with it last week and decided to pair it with Rhyhorn for a dual-ground assault, with Rhyhorn, Dustox, and Growlithe all working towards pressuring Larvitar's biggest roadblock in Koffing. Larvitar ended up being a great choice as it performed exactly as needed to clean up the endgame after 1 DD.
Semis vs SOMALIA, Zealous Outlaw Oinkologne
(L)
I've played around with lead Reversal Mankey, which seems very risky and unnecessary at lead, but I am not lying when I say this thing has literally won at lead, turn 1, 6-0. Supporting Grimer came in the form of Cubone, Eggy, and HP Grass Taillow, but a noticeable lack of offensive investment on Eggy meant that it could often struggle to put on enough pressure. Similar to the team above, I revisited this team and modified the Eggy to be far more offensive so that its Psychics hit much harder.
*If we made it to Finals I honestly might've just ran Rain vs Jabba because :p
In addition to Olympiad run-through, I thought I'd tag on a fun mon I had tried out at the time.
- I'm fond of Dragon Dancers and Dratini is fairly unique when it comes to that. It has around the same overall bulk as Bagon or Larvitar, however its typing and Shed Skin ability allow it to more easily set up vs passive Pokemon like Lileep and Koffing. Rest further enhances this role, allowing for multiple boosts over a long period of time, creating a potentially devastating sweeper after enough boosts. That said, it requires significant investment into bulk which cuts off a ton of power when initially setting up, making it more of a fish-attempt than something reliable. This spread belows notably allows Dratini to survive three attacks from Pokemon like Koffing and Delcatty, allowing it to Rest before it can be KO'd. In addition, Shed Skin may allow for Dratini to acquire more boosts before it needs to Rest. The speed is for outpacing Elekid after 2 speed boosts, although this is more preference for me. Hidden Power Steel may seem odd, but it hits both Rock-types and Shuppet for super effective and neutral damage respectively whereas Fighting would not. While this means Steel-types can pose an issue, they are far sparser and can be dealt with via Nosepass's Magnet Pull, which makes it a good partner for this particular set.
Dratini @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rest
- Return
- Dragon Dance
- Hidden Power [Steel]