OU ADV OU Teambuilding Competition [Round 4 - Raikou]

[Joaf]

Thanks to you all that submitted teams for our 3rd round of the ADV Team building competition featuring No Spikes, No Sand, and No Trappers excluding pursuit (not on Tar of course)! And thanks to our judges Kollin7 Zpanther and giraffefromholland that took the time to review and test out each of these teams. Without further delay, let me present the finalized ratings of each participant's team!

Round 3 Teambuilding Results: No Spikes No Sand and No Trappers

1st: Shitrock enjoyer - 42.83
2nd: isnialan - 35.33
3rd: SpamOn - 35
4th: mint yerb - 34.33
5th: Rambode - 32.67
6th: mrsunsmash - 32
7th: greenapricotttss - 31.5
8th: Garpachi 30.83
8th: Gamebooadvanced - 30.83
10th: Yak Attack - 24.5
11th: Sylveon HRT - 24.17

Congrats to Shitrock enjoyer for submitting the highest rated team!!! And again, thanks to all who took the time to submit. This wasn’t a super easy prompt but all of the submissions have been of really high quality.

Please stay tuned for Pajama Sam prompt for Round 4 of the ADV OU Teambuilding Competition! Once you see their prompt, feel free to start building + submitting your teams right away!

 

[Pajama Sam]

Teambuilding Competition - Round 4:

The prompt for this round is...

No other restrictions - just use Raikou. After gaining popularity this past year, Raikou, in the eyes of many players, may be worthy of OU after all. I'm very curious to see what kind of diversity in style the submitted builds will have. Don't forget the judging categories:

Team Synergy & Cohesion
Competitive Viability
Creativity & Originality
Clarity of Explanation
Adaptability & Flexibility
Be sure to have these in mind when submitting. GLHF

 

[Spreek]

I'll start us off...

Kouno Reverse Card

Teambuilding process:

The first 5 mons on this team are a quite standard slow balance core. It has 4 of the most situationally powerful (and sometimes unfair) mons in the tier and the mandatory Claydol to glue things together and provide removal. On first sight, it appears incredibly powerful; Skarm BoldRachi Boldcune is a very hard to break physical core and Blissey + Claydol/Rachi/Cune for special/mixed walling.

The problems only to start to appear when you consider what the last should be. The most glaring flaws are the lack of speed, overall passivity, weakness to setup (particularly CMers with electric coverage which threaten both phazers), and weakness to Gengar. So, as usually is the case with these sort of builds in the current meta, the choice appears to be between Aerodactyl and Dugtrio.

The Aerodactyl version is viable if a bit uninspiring. Mostly because while Aero technically checks the boxes you want, it isn't especially well supported or synergistic here. (Incidentally, if you did want to run that 6, I recently built a version with WishCMRachi and SubTect Pressure Aero which I quite like as I feel they gel better with the rest of the team's gameplan)

The Dugtrio version I feel has bigger problems. This ends up being v5 (or sui5) defrachi which is generally an extremely passive build. If you keep BoldCune + MonoBliss you end up terribly Gar weak (and still pretty CM weak). If you go to Milo + CMBliss instead, you patch the Gar weakness quite a bit at the cost of being even more passive and vulnerable to getting 6-0'd by all sorts of stuff, especially SubCM users and Restlax+Mag.

One quick note on Jolteon - I don't think any experienced builder would consider it here. While it provides speed control and can abuse spikes in some cases, it is hapless vs CM users. But what if you could replace it with something similar that *could* revenge CMers...

With that lengthy preamble, we now arrive to the star of the show:

Kouno reverse card (Raikou) @ Leftovers  
Ability: Pressure  
EVs: 8 Def / 248 SpA / 252 Spe  
Timid Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Thunderbolt  
- Crunch  
- Roar  
- Psych Up

I have tried to build with this goofy looking set several times before, but this team is by far my favorite fit for it so far. Rather than the CM Sweeper Raikou or the rare Suicide Lead Raikou, this one usually plays much more like a Jolteon's hit and run style with better stats but worse speed. More on the speed situation a bit later, but it's likely not nearly as big of a drawback as you are thinking right now. The big upside however, is the potential to completely flip a game from a certain loss to a very likely win by Psych Uping a heavily CM'd mon (gaining its spdef boosts to live its attacks), then roaring it out and proceeding to sweep. I'll attach a few replays below that will hopefully convince you. There is also a lot of bluff value in using Raikou in this way. Many teams have to react immediately in a fairly predictable way to Raikou to not risk getting swept by a SubCM version. Jolteon or Zapdos simply don't pose the same threat of ending the game on the spot.

Now let's discuss the combination of this Raikou with the 5 described above. Of the 5's weaknesses, Raikou (mostly) solves the speed issue. BoldRachi + SkarmDol can handle Aero, Bliss Dol (Kou) can handle Jolt. The main speed control is needed for mons between 300 and 350 (base 100s, +1 ada ddtar, gengar, defmie, slow dug etc). The only remaining question mark is enemy Dugtrio. But Dugtrio is better on paper vs this team than in practice. Technically it can trap any of Raikou, Jirachi, or Blissey, but it often struggles to actually kill Rachi/Bliss. Slower dugs that are either adamant or bulky will either avoid coming in on Raikou or get heavily chipped. Meanwhile, the combination of 3 roar users and spikes and two mons that Dug often really wants to try to trade with usually end up taking it out of commission at best with a 1 for 1. If it looks like the sort of team that would have a 372 dug (i.e. enemy v5), I'd recommend leaving Raikou in the back and waiting for them to trade dug for rachi or bliss. Raikou also helps a decent amount with the overall passivity. It adds an additional progress maker to the team (at least vs opponents without a blob) and one that is unusually effective at countering the setup mons that abuse passive squads. Finally, Raikou is a great Gengar switch, especially with Aroma support. It can also scout a Zapdos t1 / early game to avoid getting blissey dug trapped. This in turn allows a fairly comfortable Skarm lead which is ideal for a defensive leaning spikes team, if they can get away with it.

The rest of the team's sets are pretty standard but a few quick notes on possible adjustments and other versions:

* Suicune is bold roar to help with Snorlax and DDers. I really wanted to make sleep talk and especially calm max spdef sleep talk work as that set is especially good at bringing in enemy cmers and baiting them to set up fully, but on this particular team I found bold roar was the best.

* Dol could be Psychic or Shadow Ball. Shadow Ball Rest is decently supported here with Aroma and pretty good fighter checks and Psychic is likely 0-6 to enemy Missy stall. But in the vast majority of matchups Psychic is likely better.

* I also tried a version with Sableye over DefRachi which had its advantages. It resembles a team by ABR that had Milo > Cune and CMBliss CMRaikou. I found it a bit too weak to physical threats though.

A few replays:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2536025885-vqx65r9dcqj3kj4p5fpm37mhx2cjbpmpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2534406919-o1eijtv40i0ghi2qs7oot5irsadxrcrpw?p2 (different paste but same Raikou set)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2534926972-22diov0f3sf6xni8pj8qyuy7km8bngbpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2534914793-skua3pkb09j0e1wm5uw1n94gbywcxtdpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2534906579-k8ue1eiuhh7jh1grdbpoc5plualkd2ipw

 

[WraxiusGaming]

Fossilized Thunder


I wanted to make a team based around breaking Claydol and Swampert for Aerodactyl. I noticed in traditional aero structures, they were too reliant on Celebi and Sand to make reliable progress into slow teams and the common rock resists, which leave them open to more "cheesy" or unique structures in the modern metagame such as weather clear with lead Dugtrio or Registeel + Endpert. As such, I searched to build a team that enabled Raikou without either of these tools. This is what I came to, and I think it has enough different things about it to differentiate from similar Aero Rachi structures and makes up for its lack of sand.

Aerodactyl
Aerodactyl is a relatively common set. HP Flying is chosen because I want to feel comfortable trading mence with claydol or metagross without losing my only tool into fighters, I don't need Bug to hit Claydol when Salamence, Raikou, Jirachi, and Swampert all trade into it, and Celebi is going to be covered later. Aerodactyl is also a fantastic dug stall punish to enable Raikou better. Aerodactyl also commonly finds itself facing down Milotic, so living a surf to guarantee just one more chance to flinch is very good.

Salamence
Salamence's primary role is to limit Claydol and steels, instead of Swampert. To work toward this goal, HP Grass is cut for Hydro Pump, and 24 atk pressures Blissey much better when considering this team does not run sand. It's not a guarantee like with sand, but it is a favorable roll with one spike that is worth forcing interactions with. One consideration is Milotic, Suicune, and Starmie, Defmie especially, but Swampert, Jirachi, and Raikou are more than effective at pressuring all of these pokemon long-term. 240 speed is still good enough to beat Jolly Heracross, not a very common set but Jolly Heracross would decimate this team if it manages to enter on a locked Aerodactyl Earthquake.

Raikou
Raikou was the pokemon I had the most trouble figuring out what I want with it. I very quickly figured out that I wanted to use it alongside Salamence or Aerodactyl, since I needed to matchup divide into dug stall somehow. The issue was figuring out how I wanted to pair Raikou with these pokemon. Would they break for each other on pokemon such as Celebi and Claydol, or would I use Raikou as a bulky wall that enabled Aerodactyl while absorbing Wisps and Surfs that common teammates either can't or get worn down by passive damage too quickly to sustain. While I did spend multiple days trying the latter, I ended up building the former as it gave Raikou a chance to shine much more. Thanks to the presence of Aerodactyl, I do not have to run timid, and instead can run the much more potent modest. Despite the presence of no sand, I do not choose to run more bulk with sub. This is because Raikou is primarily meant to pressure opposing offense, and trying to make a set that beats stall is a fool's errand when Dugtrio is so commonly paired with Blissey, and Mixmence + Aerodactyl are far more effective into Balance than even the bulky Raikous could be. After some testing, Raikou didn't provide enough value in either matchup to be useful, so I decided that leaning harder into one was the better option. Raikou can still provide value into dugtrio stall, but it struggles to click any moves. With good play, however, trading into Defbi or Claydol were both very realistic options so long as you snuck in enough HP Grasses to make going to Dug scary. Raikou also provides a fantastic electric resist that while it may be weak to twave, threatens Substitute for long enough that most Zapdos players cannot actually click their status move until the game is almost over and either Aerodactyl or Jirachi is going to win the game regardless. Crunch also provides a valuable move to pressure Celebi, for example into common Tar AeroBi structures, that can trade with Celebi in order to faciliate Aerodactyl, and being a CMer itself ensures CM and CMpass Celebi's aren't too effective at exploiting Aerodactyl without HP Bug.

Jirachi
Sub CM is a given, considering how bad the stall matchup is without sand or wish. I did my best to accomodate for as much bulk as I can on both the physical and special end, and thanks to so many fast progress makers, need barely any speed at all. The speed benchmark is relatively arbitrary, but having 250 speed is relevant for a surprising amount of pokemon such as Celebi, base 100s that don't invest into speed, and pokemon that greed on bulk such as certain Celebi sets. Instead, the unique attributes of this Jirachi are the two coverage moves chosen. Originally, it was Super, but then I remembered that Aerodactyl isn't an autowin into stall, so I had to swap the Jirachi set or take it out entirely, and Offpert was doing a lot of work so I went the easy route. Grass was a given, without HP Grass there wouldn't be nearly enough pressure into Swampert beyond Aerodactyl, so then the question became the other move. Thunderbolt pressures Skarmory, waters, and most notably fires very well. Ice Punch pressures many similar pokemon to Grass but also covers Celebi and fliers. However, I chose Fire Punch, as it pressures most notably Spikers and Celebi. The weakness to fires can be felt, but Refresh Offpert, Hydro Pump Mixmence, and Raikou are effective enough at switching into fires and threatening kills, Aerodactyl threatens them both with super effective Rock Slides, and the game is fast paced enough that spikes struggle to create value. High SpD investment is better into Zapdos and mixed attackers as well.

Skarmory and Swampert
Both are very generic sets that you would expect on this type of team. The combination of Jirachi, Offensive Swampert, Raikou, and Fire Blast MixMence is very strong into opposing spike setters, so I don't need to be taunt and can instead focus Skarmory on pressuring opposing spinners to, as every teammate does, break for Aerodactyl, and enable Salamence better. Offensive Swampert is mostly the same, Jirachi allows for you to not run max defense and can afford to be +SpA which is very potent at limiting Skarmory and Celebi entries, and the extra speed is good enough to finish off Blissey. Refresh is chosen to play around the very common Toxic Zapdos running around as a secondary Zapdos check vs more common ZapSpikes structures such as Classico or RestZap stalls. Other common options such as Curse and Focus Punch were not found to be necessary, the rest of the team were fantastic or +0 earthquakes were good enough in combination with spikes and killing off spinners with Salamence, Raikou, and Aerodactyl.

Overall while I think this team is good, I am unsatisfied. I went through a lot of variations with a bulkier Raikou set that I think has a lot of potential, using Raikou in a more unique way thats similar to how Raikou is used in GSC instead of the CM bot it is in ADV. However, I struggled to make a 6 that used Raikou effectively without being too dug weak, and every time the problem would be solved by using either Suicune or RestZap instead. In the end, I forced myself to settle for the offensive ideas I liked in combination with a more standard Raikou set. I do enjoy the techs and building to get here, but I do hate that I couldn't find a way to get the Raikou set I wanted to be viable.

 

[TheBaker]

Wasn't even trying to make a Raikou team when I started making this, but I really loved playing it.



Wanted lead because I had recently heard someone talking about how it's just the best lead. So, with that, I thought about things struggled with, and by "i thought about" i mean, I went to porydex and looked at 's list of checks & counters: was #1. I clicked on to see its checks & counters, was #1... and so on and so on. So what we have here is statistically speaking the best possible lead team. You can't argue. This is just the way it is. I laddered it for a while and it actually worked really well, it's a little weak to , , and , which admittedly are pretty horrible things to worry about, but traps , deals with most sets and agiligross handles . So if this team loses to those, it's actually a skill issue or something.

Enjoy free wins, you're welcome, world.

https://pokepast.es/ec842b6f20b40215


Replays

1 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2537209901
2 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2537214769
3 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2537220304
4 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2537223484
5 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2537225948-d90sf4die8ci77wuj0ao5woepk1qdscpw
6 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2537230178-mqwbv7d956wpxvb51jyxka1ueye2b69pw
7 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2537232455
8 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2537236455
9 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2537239366-d3kclmg5dognhruhvwpv2lysctgm2repw
10 https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2537504392-f8deewhhua4usiwfwchehkcytbdf8sipw

 

[SpamOn]

I wanted to build a spikes offence team with Raikou. Partly because it's a style I am comfortable playing, and partly because it's hopefully something novel. Most of the Raikou Spikes teams that exist at the moment are sandless semi-stall(ish) teams which take the approach of trying to wear its checks down over a long game and sweep with a (potentially bulky) Raikou in the endgame. This team takes a fundamentally different approach.

Cloy-Kou SpikeOff​

Initial Ideas:
Raikou is a fairly natural Spike abuser due to the fact that almost all its checks are spikes weak. However, it is also spikes weak itself and, if running Calm Mind, often lends itself to being an all in on one-entry style mon. To make Raikou work for us we are going to:

1. Run Raikou with a Spiker that allows us to get a temporary hazard advantage over our opponents via also having spin.
2. Run a set on Raikou to allow it to be a more natural pivot and spikes abuser in some MUs.

For 1, I tried pairing Raikou with Cloyster and Forretress. In the end Cloyster ended up being more effective and so we are going with that, though I think you could probably do a similar thing with Forre with adjustments.
For 2, we are running Calm Mind, Thunderbolt, HP Grass and Toxic on Raikou. This allows it to act like a pivot in some games (similar to Zapdos on El Classico), being able to force damage switches and catch mons with Toxic, whilst still retaining the benefits of being a Calm Mind cleaner in other Match-ups. It also allows it to deal with other CM users like Celebi and Blissey in a 1v1.
Raikou's main issues offensively are that it struggles to make progress into bulky teams with Blissey, and it gets trapped/revenge killed by Dugtrio/Aerodactyl. To address these issues, we are using a standard Dragon Dance Salamence to punish Dug's Earthquake lock-ins and counter-sweep against Aero teams. To deal with breaking defensive teams, we are also using a bulky Substitute Jirachi.
The team now needs a check to physical attackers, and so we are going to use Swampert. I decided to go with OffPert here since we already have intimidate and a secondary Rock resist in Jirachi, and we want Pert to be able to effectively beat down Skarmory to enable DD-Mence and Cloyster. It also provides a potential Blissey switch-in, which will be particularly effective if Blissey has been Poisoned.
Finally, on the Special side, our team has good options to pivot around most Special attackers, or revenge kill with Raikou. However, we have no Will-O-Wisp Switch-in. Therefore, we are using a Pursuit Tyranitar to remove Gengar. This also helps Cloyster Spin if needed, pressures the Starmie which enter on Cloyster and brings sand to force the issue against Bulky teams/Snorlax.

Set Details:

• 
  : Crunch, Pursuit, Fire Blast, Brick Break. I put 248hp EVs to live Metagross Mash from full, Speed Creep for Blissey/OffPert and put the rest into SpAtk (Quiet nature). I generally play aggressively with Tar on turn 1, staying in to Brick Break other Tars, since beating a common lead DD-Tar is often a good trade for us. Forcing damage on their Skarm or forcing in Pert for a Cloyster entry are often good lead sequences. Against Mence I usually go into Jirachi and scout the set/threaten Ice Punch. Against Waters I go hard into Cloyster and fighters into Mence.
• 
  : Spikes, Surf, Rapid Spin, Explosion. These are the standard options. However, I have gone for a bulky Cloyster set here - 301 raw hp allows Cloy to live 3 Seismic Tosses from full against Blissey/Registeel and the SpDef investment allows Cloy to (15/16) live a +1 HP Grass from OffCune (and then Boom it!). I think Cloy is generally best being bulky if it's not a lead. The Speed investment creeps past standard Claydol. I have still gone for a Modest nature However. I think Cloyster's ability to actually go damage and chip stuff like Skarm, Meta, Pert and Gar with Surf is valuable.
• 
  : Hydro Pump, Earthquake, Ice Beam, Focus Punch. Again the standard moveset options. I have added HP EVs to live (Timid) OffGar HP Grass from full, 160 SpAtk EVs with a Quiet nature to OHKO standard Defensive Flygon with Ice Beam and speed creep for Blissey. The remaining EVs go into defence to maximise physical bulk.
• 
  : Substitute, Thunder, Ice Punch, Toxic. Max HP, a bit of creep for Tar/Utility Celebi (246 Speed) and the remaining EVs in SpAtk with a modest nature. This set is meant to be a pain for Bulky teams to deal with - setting Substitutes up on Blissey and forcing it out with Toxic, chipping everything down under Sand and Spikes and spreading Status. It nearly 6-0s a lot of V5 style teams, or forces them to sack their Claydol into Dug, in which case we can Spike on them freely. So why not just use Sub CM? Well, our set tends to lure in things like Tar, Pert and Dol to Toxic them, which is massive for enabling our sweepers, instead of needing them to be chipped down by something else. Similarly to Raikou, it is also less "all-in" on one entry and tends to be better at being a pivot and trading damage/status with the opponent throughout the game, which is desirable with the style of the team. It is also worth saying the Thunder Para's are great at enabling Tar and Pert as slow Mixed attackers, and Ice Punch is just an evil move you can spam to get yourself out of a jam.
• 
  : Calm Mind, Thunderbolt, HP Grass, Toxic. Max Speed, Max SpAtk, Timid Nature. This set should be pretty self explanatory given the prior section. Against many TSS teams Raikou can be used as a pivot or revenge killer against Zap, offensive waters and Gengar with the ability to spread status or just deal out big damage (Gengar being important if Tar's health is traded off early). Against many SpecOff or MixOff structures, it can be preserved to sweep in the endgame.
• 
  : Dragon Dance, HP Flying, Rock Slide, Earthquake. This is basically the standard "traditional" DD-Mence set. Probably a bit out of fashion at the moment but on this team it works well - the combo of Spikes + Toxic often pressures Blissey and Tar enough to where they die to +1 HP Flying/Eq, allowing us to forgo Brick Break. I think all the coverage moves are needed since we don't have another way of pressuring things like Meta, DefRachi, Aero, or Celebi easily.

Performance:
When I started playing this team, I really had no idea what to expect. I had been playing around with this team concept for a while (often with something like EndPert-Registeel over OffPert-SubRachi) and it seemed pretty inconsistent. However, this version of the team worked really well. This was pretty surprising to me as it felt kinda odd putting it together - it clearly violates some implicit principle I have in teambuilding (probably being a spikes team with no spinblocker and no big immediate power, instead however 6 mons that can all do decent damage individually).
I managed to top the ladder with it. Here are a few sample replays:

• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2541022280-ema7if8lfi4bc5lloxfiu4m0nbud1tjpw?p2
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2541036533-36uxs4ppjqs4f4sutg1i32p04vo7ry1pw?p2
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2541049430-knnh39ljp27use0lrqfw3hjym51y1i9pw?p2

I think the Jirachi set is what brought the team together. It really helped enable the team's other threats and could be played in a pretty versatile way from game to game (as well as just winning 6-0 in certain MUs). I might make a separate post on the set/teams thread about this set as I have been using it on a few different teams and it has been performing really well. Maybe someone has used this before though. In terms of weaknesses, I would say that the 3 main ones I found are:

• Bulky teams with a way to shut down Jirachi - typically this will be the Aroma Blissey + a mon that handles Jirachi's coverage well, like defensive Jirachi. Aroma Bliss + Rest Zap can also somewhat do this but they have to play well/get turns right since Zap doesn't really like taking Ice Punch/Thunder from near Max SpAtk Jirachi. You still have ways to pressure these teams with spikes and the other threats, the MU often isn't in your favour though.
• Celebi - specifically Utility sets with > 246 speed. Similarly to the above, this can't be easily abused by Jirachi and beats 3 of our team cleanly. Mence + SuitTar help, but these can get worn down pretty quickly, and Tar often doesn't win if Leeched.
• General Earthquake Weakness. A problem for a lot of Cloyster teams that forgo Skarm's EQ immunity - 3 ground weaks and only 1 immunity, which is weak to Slide. If the Opponent gets the turns right with something like Aero, CB Mence or even just BKC Tar, you can be in trouble.

If you have gotten this far, thanks for reading! I certainly had a lot of fun with this prompt and teambuilding goal and I think I succeeded (maybe I just got lucky with MUs when playing, which can be a real thing on the ladder). Hopefully people enjoy the team!

 

[Forte]

Much discussion has been made about Walrein in ADV OU. Indeed if posted tomorrow it could easily become Walrein Wednesday, folks... However this is not about Walrein, and is instead about Raikou, and as such I am deciding to post this on a Tuesday.​

SLOPPY TOPPY​

I started to ideate this team right after I lost to Kaboom in ADVR3 top cut. This was the first time I had ever really struggled into Slop in a tournament setting, which had me thinking of new ways to counter some of the core mons that makes Slop so potent, while still maintaining reasonable viability into other, non-Slop structures. At first I thought abusing Registeel was the correct route to go down, and looked around at mons that could create 101 subs. While sorting Pokemon by base HP I discovered how outstanding Walrein is into the Slop archetype (more on him later), and from this point on the rest of the team building process revolved around supporting Walrein. While testing various builds I found fairly consistent success with Raikou as a part of this core - both offensively and defensively.

Swampert: I struggled for some time on the specific set, but Swampert was always desired as the lead in one way or another. As far as opposing Tyranitar leads go, it's role on slop is largely defined as a suicide lead meant to compromise rock resists for it's team members, and the best way Swampert can avoid this is simply through acting as the lead. While this team has offensive checks to Salamence, nothing especially likes to switch in on it turn 1, and on top of that, Sloppy Toppy is composed of several "half" special walls that cannot afford repeated entries on Mix Mence, so forcing Salamence out turn 1 is very helpful in preserving HP across these checks. As far as other leads are concerned, Zapdos is easily the most difficult for this team. Originally Wish Blissey was run, but that was eventually swapped out for Machamp, which did help this team in many ways, but came at the cost of a very mid matchup into electrics (especially Zapdos). In an attempt to compensate for this I added Counter as Swampert's last move in order to punish HP Grass clicks, which obviously has its own drawbacks, but it does work better than I expected, and if nothing else will discourage clicking HP Grass into Swampert at full HP in later turns as well. If desired though, Refresh helps with the Milotic matchup, and Roar helps with several matchups (sub rachi, sub heracross, Offcune, Boahtar, etc). The EV spread chosen is largely standard, with the goal of chunking incoming Skarmory and outspeeding standard Blissey sets, which can otherwise be a bit obnoxious for this team if the physical pieces are played incorrectly before it is taken out. I will add that I created a variation of this team for HClat's 4BL ladder challenge that swapped Swampert out for CB Regirock lead, which in many ways actually feels superior at setting tempo, but results in an absolutely abysmal matchup into Sub CM Jirachi.

Salamence: Salamence serves roles both offensively and defensively as the sole ground immune team member. For some time I was operating with Penguin Mence (Brick Break over HP Flying), but eventually Brick Break felt less and less necessary, especially when Machamp was added. Salamence is best used as a late game cleaner once Walrein and Co. have worn down the opposing team, but also serves as a much needed Celebi check, as Walrein shuts down slower paced Celebi sets, but struggles against offensive sets. In the end of the day 99% of games will be ending with Salamence or Raikou on the win screen.

Walrein: Alright so this is the part you've been waiting for. While I was looking at statlines as mentioned in the overview above, I was reminded of how unusually amazing Walrein's statline is. 110/90/90 bulk with Thick Fat is quite frankly outstanding, and helps to diminish many of the shortcomings of the Water/Ice type combination. The stat that stood out to me the most however were not these defenses, and not even its usable mixed offensive stats (80/95), it was it's base 65 speed. Anyone familiar with Walrein's best move will understand why this is so important. Walrein is THE ONLY Pokemon in the game with all of the following traits: access to Encore, able to outspeed EndPert, resists both Hydro Pump and Ice Beam, and has high enough natural bulk and offenses to be usable in other matchups (Dewgong comes close to this, but is just a worse mon all around). Yes, Timid Walrein is one of the absolute best Endpert counters in the game. At 246 speed and the bulk provided Walrein is able to click Encore into many other notable targets as well however, including most Suicune sets, bulky bi sets, def rachi, virtually all curse users, Blissey, Milotic, Skarmory, and many more. The spread attached allows for Walrein to live quite a few hits from full, including 252+ Tar Rock Slide (with two layers of spikes), +1 Rock Slide from DD Mence (with a 50% chance to live +2), Tbolt from Timid Zapdos and Kou, two giga drains from CM3A Bi, and two meteor mashes from non CB Metagross, while also completely shrugging off almost every Water, Ice, and Fire attack thrown its way. This ensures that offensively, Walrein is at worst trading down in most games. The real value it gains however is in its ability to force switches when Spikes are on the field. Encore accomplishes this of course, but Yawn is a fantastic tool to compound the pressure exerted by Encore, and helps ensure Blissey can't switch in for free. Many other moves were attempted before settling on Yawn, including Substitute (with a higher HP stat to get 101 subs), Earthquake (which primarily punishes Raikou switches from behind a substitute), Toxic, and Roar (which ultimately felt too antithetical to Encore's game flow), but Surf, Ice, Beam, Encore, and Yawn is the most versatile set I have used. Using Encore at the correct moment is important for setup denial, forcing spikes chip, and also for enabling Salamence and Raikou in the late game. I often will use Walrein as an offensive tempo machine, intentionally sacking it to lock a Pokemon to coverage that allows Salamence or Raikou to set up for the win. This works far better than I ever would have expected, and is easily my favorite aspect of this team.

Machamp: Machamp was the last addition to this comp, and is uniquely qualified in the support it offers. The most impactful aspect of Machamp on this team is that it single handedly solves the matchup into Snorlax, Blissey, and Taunt Gar, while also assisting in the Registeel, Tyranitar, Skarmory, and (to an extent) Salamence matchups. As mentioned earlier, this slot was originally held by Wish Blissey, which did help extend Walrein and Swampert's lifespans in most games, but left glaring weaknesses to every mon mentioned above, especially Taunt Gar, which would force wisp onto Raikou and damage its ability to clean. Machamp is here to switch in aggressively on normals and Tyranitar, and punish incoming switches. In theory I could see a more gimmicky set like Cross Chop, Rock Slide, Rest, and Sleep Talk finding some value, as Machamp is typically going down before the rest of the team, but Machamp's purpose still gets accomplished with a more rounded Bulk up set.

Raikou: Raikou acts as one of two win conditions on this comp, while also acting as a valuable special switch. Even with the addition of Machamp, and adding HP Flying to Salamence, this team's matchups into Celebi and Gengar are still uneasy enough to warrant the inclusion of Crunch over Sub, which also has the added benefit of ensuring you aren't wasting valuable HP on Substitutes now that Wish Blissey is gone. Raikou serving a more defensive role and entering the field more often than it might on other teams makes this HP preservation incredibly important. Early game you are typically going to be playing hit and run more than anything else - pivoting on electric coverage and chunking whatever comes next before switching to Machamp on the opponent's blob of choice. While additional bulk over speed can certainly be considered, I have found that it is nice to be able to hit 361 in order to create a much better matchup into OffMie while acting as a secondary EndPert check.

Forretress: Forretress was the weirdest fit on this team. Sloppy Toppy needs one of either Spikes or Sand to create any progress at all, and after a lot of testing it became clear that this team needs Spikes way more than it needs Sand. Most of the early to midgame consists of aggressive switches/encores in order to force your opponent to switch, and spikes just enable this play style too much to give up. In addition this team is obviously very grounded, so having spin support is massive. Not having a way to trap Gengar is a downside of course, but every Pokemon on this team has a way to pressure Skarmory, and if Forretress is able to predict Skarmory entries, then spikes can still be denied. I had attempted a set utilizing Zap Cannon in order to hit Gengar and Skarmory, but in the end of the day Earthquake to hit Raikou, Jolteon, and Magneton felt more impactful in an average game, and Explosion helps remove Zapdos and some of the bulky threats that are tough to pin down in a way that is appreciated by everyone else on this team. I will say that this is the set that is most open to interpretation, and is one that I have changed multiple times.

--------------------------------------------------

I have had a ton of success with this team, reaching a peak of around 1730 on ladder, and winning roughly 80% (if my math is correct) of the more "real" games I have brought it to (mostly King of the Hill on the ADV Discord, with a few tour sets in Mugulis Cup and SSNL). This team highlights a lot of Pokemon in some very fun ways, while showcasing the most unique Walrein set seen in years. I don't think it's perfect, and I am still actively adjusting things, but I am at a point where I am happy enough to share it with the world.

 

[demonstrations man]

EndureSalacRaikou Rain SpecOff

Premise:
I'll try to keep this focused to the team I'm actually submitting, but I went through quite a few different ideas for this comp, as I quite like Raikou. At first, I was trying to build a MACONHA FESTA inspired team that leveraged P2's role both as a chain switch enabler for breakers ala Fruh's writeup and in its "old school" role as a Dug countertrapper. I found this to be a bit difficult for me at my building skill level - MACONHA FESTA is what I'd describe as a very high-level teamcomp that borders on mad genius from the future, sorta like Giraffe was saying. It may be something I return to. I still wanted to do something a little out-of-the-box for this competition, though.

My thought process was: So, if I'm not doing a P2 team, and I'd rather not use more conventional methods of Dug-punishment (like pairing with DDMence, for example), how can I turn Dug's appearance on the opponent's team into an opportunity? Scrolling through Raikou's moves for ideas, it hit me... Endure (+ Salac Berry)! Obviously, there are numerous prerequisites that must be met for such a thing to be successful, and even then, it's a little "meme-y". But it should be fun to build around (and I was able to achieve a good amount of success with it)!

Teambuilding process:
So, with a concept chosen to build around, I set out to identify what it could do, and what it'd like to best function.

Set

Raikou @ Salac Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Calm Mind
- Endure
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

For an Endure + Salac Berry set, I made the following assumptions: Modest would be better than Timid because we'll outspeed everything after our berry pops anyway. Max SpA Max Spe was still used. Max SpA for obvious reasons, and Max Spe is still good - we hit 329. HP Ice would be better than HP Grass to accomplish one of the sets main goals of deleting late game DDMence. It provides some good surprise factor mid game as well. Thunderbolt is a no-brainer. Calm Mind should still be slotted so a boost can be fished for, usually before the berry pops. Also helps versus late game Suicune.

As far as team style goes, I assumed: this'll fit best on a fast-paced structure, and we need weather clear. The most natural team style to build was thus a Rain sweeper special offense. There are definitely other fits available, but this seemed to be the most straightforward. Still, more difficult to put together than something like Kingdra + Heracross, because of the lack of complementary special/physical pressure.

And, just to make it explicit: this Raikou set has a high bar to properly come online, and I am aware of that. Put simply, we need to: delete Tar, eliminate or significantly chip the special wall, reset weather, and eliminate or significantly chip Swampert/Claydol. Yeah. I had messed around with some ways to make this teamcomp more flexible (inspired by Giraffe's Fun ZapDugCune SubSeedLudi teams), but ended up just settling on this iteration.

So, with a style chosen (Rain SpecOff), our teambuilding scope is actually pretty funneled towards certain Mons. I tended towards standard ZapDug, and more "tricky" Gengar sets that can push the team a little further in the early game by deceiving the opponent. I obviously would normally want Suicune here, but decided to go without it - this definitely negatively impacts the matchups in which this team is viable. I also decided to go nearly fully special - the only direct physical attackers are Dugtrio and Gengar's Boom/FP. I figured on a meme-y team like this, I'd rather go all in on breaking through on the special side rather than give the opponent a Metagross to pivot around.

Sets

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 100 SpA / 16 SpD / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute
- Baton Pass

Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 88 HP / 56 Atk / 188 SpD / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Night Shade
- Focus Punch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Explosion

Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 8 HP / 244 Atk / 20 SpD / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Aerial Ace

Some of a fast-paced SpecOff's best buddies. Zap is running standard SubPass TB/Grass, with a cool set by Sadlysius: Modest 271 with full HP investment (speedcreep is legal here, taking EVs from SpD). In combination with at least 184 SpD EVs on Gengar, this allows Gengar's passed Sub to withstand an Ice Beam from Blissey, putting them in a tight spot. My favorite Gengar set on this team was also recommended by Sadlysius. I had messed around with Lead Gengar with DBond, BoltBeam FP Boom Gengar, and other sets, but found this one to be the best for me. Wisp + Boom offers a lot of utility and trading with special walls. Focus Punch can rip from behind a sub, as well as catch SuitTar (or even a called-out DD). This offers a great deal of deception - opponents are rarely prepared to deal with all 3 of these moves on the same Gar. Night Shade can sometimes finish something off. I'd almost prefer SToss, but then we'd blank completely on enemy Gar. As for Dug, I went Adamant. As established above, this team has a lot of things that it wants gone. Adamant gives Dug more favorable ranges versus a lot of those. Jolly DDTar is a problem, but luckily it's less common nowadays, especially in lead. The 8 HP / 20 SpD is for a little extra survivability, but could be forgone for Max Atk Max Spe. Sadlysius recommends 8 HP / 40 SpD in the Rain guide. Jolly Dug that hits at least 365 remains an option, to improve the team's chances against Jolly DDTar. Beat Up may be advisable in that case to at least hit Bliss harder.

Set

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 80 SpA / 136 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Fire Punch

Special-attacking "fat" breaker. I went with SubCM Psy/Fire Rachi here over Metagross at the advice of Celdanami. I'd considered it previously, but Metagross (Agil or Mixed, most likely?) always felt like a more natural pick for such a special heavy team. Sadlysius also mentioned MixedMeta as a possible fit here. However, I was convinced (through conversation with Celd and my own experience trying it out) that beating down Blissey/other fat may be preferable here. SubCM is tricky and can force the opponent to reveal their hand - which can be exploited for a trade towards your identified wincon. It also provides a decent "backbone" with its mixed bulk. Coverage could be played with, but standard Psy/Fire proved most reliable to me. It is the best at its purpose of breaking fat, but worse against other things, notably Aero. Burn chance comes in handy.

Set

Kingdra @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SpA / 152 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Rain Dance
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Standard Rain SpecOff sweeper. I didn't get cute here. Like I alluded to earlier, I had played around with SubSeedLudi, but I found that that didn't work as well with the pace I was targeting. No IBCune hurt that quite a lot as well. So, standard Lum Kingdra it is. There could be some room to play with Hydro here to up the pressure, but I go through phases where I can't stand missing. I had also experimented with a much bulkier 252 HP (240+ SpA / 16 Spe) Lum set to soft-account for this team's lack of a conventional Water (again, Suicune). That set is able to tank a Dragon Claw from Mence, in exchange for no longer being able to outspeed Max Spe Jolly Tar. Either way, getting that weather clear up is mandatory if you plan on leaning on Raikou's Endure for the endgame.

How does it play?:
It's a non-optimal ZapDug with no Suicune, no SpeedPass, and barely any backbone whatsoever. So... yeah. It's fun! Because of these sacrifices, two things become apparent: playing this team is trade-heavy, and dependent on making multiple reads throughout the course of a game, especially in the early turns. One missed prediction or sloppy trade can easily snowball into a loss. This lends the team a "razor-thin" quality, which leads the team to require being played "accurately" instead of "carefully", if that makes sense. It is also worth noting that in vapicuno's terminology, is this a very "strategic" team - it has a clear gameplan in mind, and needs to stick to it.

Early game is about manufacturing momentum. Since the team really doesn't have the luxury of safely scouting sets, you tend to have to make hard reads and aggressive switches. Zapdos primarily functions to get that SubPass off, and often ends up being used as a trading piece later in the mid game. Gengar's role is volatile but critical for the team to function, usually harassing walls with Wisp and Focus Punch, or Booming something for a Dug trap. Dugtrio, of course, functions primarily to remove the numerous troublesome threats this team has, chiefly Tyranitar and chipped walls. Jirachi, as mentioned above, is mostly a "forcing" breaker in the mid game - using Sub to secure setup turns, and then continuing to lay on the pressure with boosted attacks. On this team, Kingdra also acts as somewhat of a "breaker", punching holes with Rain-boosted Surfs, and clearing Sand away for Raikou. Raikou's intended role is to sweep up the remains late game, but Modest Kou's power should not be underestimated mid game if the need arises.

It's wise to keep in mind that this strategy is trade-based in nature, and a bad one could be catastrophic - navigate towards favorable trades as you reveal the opponent's structure. To win as late game approaches, you must be willing to ruthlessly (but accurately) sacrifice your weakened/unnecessary pieces to dismantle their core. In a way, having no clear Ground-type answer helps here (cope) - the opponent might feel empowered to push harder and trade away their Ground, not realizing how much they may need it for Raikou later. In a winning state, the game often ends with the opponent either having nothing to stop your remaining pieces, or being left baited into Earthquaking Raikou as it Endures, pops Salac, and cleans up. A critical note: This won't work too early. If they still have anything left that Raikou doesn't sweep through, they can just proc your Salac and switch out. Modest Raikou's breaking power can be usable mid game, but the Salac strategy is generally not.

Threat assessment & matchups (warning: yuge)

Ironically for a Rain team, this is one of our hardest matchups. Without a Swampert, we have no safe switch-ins, especially versus DDTar. If they reveal their set, the team can manage it, but you rarely have time for that. You're often forced to BP or hard switch to Dug. Adamant DD, Suit, and BKC variants are manageable, but Ice Beam deletes your Dug switch-in, and a Jolly DDTar is essentially a 6-0 if it gets a free turn.

Tough, but manageable. We have two floaters to pivot around EQ and two HP Grass users to threaten it. Perts can be good at forcing a trade, as they avoid Zap's HP Grass. It isn't uncommon to have to beat it down with Rachi or Gar, or finish it off with Kingdra. As usual, trading the wrong piece here can easily snowball into a loss, so choose carefully.

Often better at forcing a trade than Pert simply because it lacks the 4x Grass weakness. Your priority is catching it with Gar's Wisp so Rachi can attempt to handle it. Otherwise, Zap is usually responsible for grinding it down, just watch out for Explosion. Kingdra can Surf it down, but you want to make sure you'll get the OHKO because of Explosion.

Skarm is essentially a non-issue. Zap, Kou, Gar, and Rachi all pressure it, and even Kingdra can eat a Toxic to set up Rain. Bliss is actually the preferred fat wall to see, as the combo of Gar's Focus Punch, Dug, and SubCM Rachi generally overwhelms it. Beware of Thunder Wave, though. Catching one on Rachi ruins the SubCM beatdown. Even though it's the preferred wall to encounter, it can still snowball into a big problem if it proves evasive.

Very tricky to face down on lead because you have zero info turn 1. It basically comes down to a coin toss. If it's fast TWave, just attack (we have nothing that wants to be para'd, so trade ASAP). If it's fast SubPass, attacking or Subbing is fine. If it's slower, you'll want to Sub. Of course, there isn't a way to know any of this turn 1, so... generally, the rule for opposing Zap is just to attack it. Trading your Zap for theirs is usually safe because we have a second floater and second Electric in the back.

Both of these fat matchups are tricky. For both, especially Lax, landing Wisp with Gar is critical, but Curse + Rest variants can still easily snowball. Regice threatens with TWave and STAB Ice Beam. Both Lax and Ice will likely force a trade, often demanding Gar's Boom to remove them. Otherwise, if they're burned and without Rest, you can pivot around to scout their moves and bait a Boom from them. If you find a clean entry point on Regice, Rachi can take it down, especially if you get a free Sub predicting a TWave.

Can be harder to break than Lax thanks to its bulk, resistances, and ability to stall with Leech Seed/Recover or CM. SDPass is basically game over. It's a prime target for a Dug trap, but many variants have enough bulk to survive an Adamant HP Bug from full. You have to chip it first, but coordinate it carefully so you don't let it escape with BP, especially if it's carrying boosts.

Not a massive problem as long as you maintain pressure so it never gets too many free boosts (or potentially worse, a Rest after it accumulates many). However, you must respect it late game because Kingdra is mostly blanked by it. A healthy Zap or Kou are your best answers. Don't try to CM war using Rachi unless you are 100% certain it isn't carrying Roar.

Defensive Starmie is hard to kill and spreads para, which is brutal for us. Again, Zap or Rachi are forced into a trade. Offensive Starmie is also tricky, though it can create clutch win conditions - I've won games using Kou to Endure a Rain-boosted Hydro Pump to pop Salac and sweep. Dicey stuff.

A tricky mirror. Recent trends of opposing Gars running Taunt + Grass coverage are helpful. Grass is essentially a wasted moveslot against us, and Taunt can be played around by just attacking. Rachi hates taking Wisp, but Psychic deals clean damage in return. Our Gar's Wisp + Night Shade remains an option. (Honorable mention to Dusclops: incredibly tricky to break down, as Rest easily shrugs off our attempts to burn it while completely draining momentum).

Annoying in the lead slot. Even if you threaten it out with Zap, BPing to Gar passes the Intimidate drop, ruining our damage ranges. Safest turn 1 play is likely a hard switch to Rachi, which safely eats whatever Mence typically tries against an unrevealed Zap, allowing you to scout. Mid game, watch out for Dragon Claw if you haven't scouted it already. Mixed sets are best handled by Kou and Gar, but if DDMence sets up while Sand is active, you have to get... creative to avoid a sweep.

Manageable, provided you read/scout the set. CB is usually easy enough to pivot around. For Agility, Zap can force a Boom, Gar/Rachi can fish for a burn, and Kou can use it for a last-ditch Endure setup, useful if Meta is chipped. Mixed is mostly not an issue. Kingdra can also threaten big Surfs and bait a Boom.

Pivot around it to dodge EQ, Rock Slide, and Toxic. However, it's relatively easy to take out once you navigate it. Kingdra handles it well, and Kou can surprise it mid game if they don't expect HP Ice.

We have the pieces to pivot around Aero: floaters for EQ, Rachi for Rock Slide, and Rachi/Kou to bait EQ. Navigating it is all about mind games. Endure Kou is the star here, actively using Aero's EQ to trigger Salac. SubLiechi Aero is the biggest problem; if you scout the Sub beforehand, you can still bait EQ with Kou, but Rachi is usually tasked with getting you to that point. Kingdra under Rain is a clean alternative answer. It's also possible to bait it to EQ on your Zap, expecting Jirachi, and just go for a Thunderbolt.

We have more ways to threaten Gyara than Mence, primarily Zap's Tbolt. Be warned it can set up on Kingdra since it isn't weak to Ice Beam like Mence is. But by the late game, once weather is cleared, Kou can easily handle it. Beware of Thunder Wave or Taunt.

Generally just setup fodder. Be mindful of letting it lay down too many Spikes, but seeing it is usually a relief. It's almost always paired with SuitTar, meaning we don't have to worry about Jolly DDTar sweeping us.

A scary breaker, but we have tools to manage it. It will likely force a trade, but Gar's fast Night Shade can finish it off when it gets low, or simply bring in Kou mid game to threaten the OHKO with Tbolt.

Not too scary since we have multiple pieces that pressure it. However, Mach Punch is a massive issue for our wincon. If you are forced to Endure down to 1 HP with Kou before Loom is KO'd or confirmed not to have Mach Punch, your sweep is dead.

We don't have a true Jolt answer, making it obnoxious early and mid game. Scout its set as safely as possible (TWave vs Sub). Counterplay is roughly the same, though: trade with Rachi or use Kingdra to finish it off. Using Kingdra's Lum to absorb TWave and set up Rain Dance is great, especially late game once Jolt is chipped into KO range for a Rain-boosted Surf.

Honestly a big problem. Because we opted for Adamant Dug over Jolly, we lack the speed to trap them (or in Zam's case, try to). Opposing Kou is an ugly matchup. Your best bet may be leaning on Rachi's sturdiness or navigating a full-health Gar around Subs with Night Shade and Boom. Zam is arguably worse - the standard CM/Encore set threatens to effortlessly delete the team.

Overall, I wouldn't call this team highly adaptable or flexible. However, I do think it has ways to win versus a lot of team styles - perhaps requiring quite accurate piloting and some luck. I find it fun to play, and it was fun to build and use a more unconventional approach to Kou. I want to achieve more with it, but I am relatively happy with this for now.

Replays:
Managed to get to an ELO peak of 1597 using only this team. (I've used other teams on this alt, but I started the climb with this team around 1100 somewhere). I know I could climb further, but I'm pretty happy to have made it to a significant milestone with this concept, and I don't have much more free time before the competition closes. Here are a few games showcasing the team in action:

Vs. TarAero MixOff
Vs. SDPass
Vs. V5 (ELO peak)
Vs. ZapDugTar
Vs. MagOff
Vs. Aero Spinner Balance
Vs. Perish Trap Stall-in on Lax

Special thanks:
Celdanami for advice and brainstorming with me in the early stages of the build.
goldmason for taking a look at the team and providing a sanity check.
Sadlysius (the GOAT of ADV Rain) for set advice/tweaking and great insight into Rain structures.

 

[xlimexheep]

this is actually my first forum post / team writeup
funky mixed rachi skarmkou spikes

this six came too me as I was messing around with various mixed jirachi sets (theres so much you can do)
And I have wanted to post something for the teambuilding competition as I haven't been super proud of my teams on previous prompts, but here it is!

CBTar lead is a great momentum builder vs zapdos and skarm, the focus punch damage cannot be understated, a common line I have seen climbing is t1 zap switch to pert and BOOM pert is significantly weaker and with spikes it'll be hard for it to do much.

Spicy Jirachi, this wasn't the initial set I was using with this six and I'm still not super happy with it, but its current role is spreading para's and making wishes (she is the wishmaker after all). I went with a bulkier build with enough speed to creep other defrachis and the other base 100's that wanna creep tar. The rest in SpAtk so your fire/grass coverage is actually threatening, I didn't feel as much of a need to have fighting coverage, though there are some bliss matchups I've found difficult into especially if your tar goes down early.

Skarmy! spikes are great, we all love spikes and with sandstorm you keep all your OPP's nice and chipped. I feel like getting 3 up isn't as necisarry on this team stucture, but if they think they can switch skarm in you can taunt and grab you second or third if they are staying in.

Swampert (rank 3 OU when?) just a pretty standard offense build, creeped speed up a lil because it feels like a lot of bliss nowadays are investing in more speed. swampert is you blissy bully, your helpful friend against ddmence and yeah. you have a little bit of rock checks around the team but a good rock resist is always great.

The Pumper (salamence) went with pump here because it feels like anytime I try to build a jira+skarm team molt clears so easily, naive nature and 309 speed cause I'm an innovator and also it outspeeds molt and base 100's that go 308.

Raikou the cat that crunches: cm3a with ice and dark as your coverage, anyone who's played raikou with the resurgence, esp with crunch know how good a setup raikou can do, there are plenty of games I've had where I just click crunch 3 times to win.


Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2494432952?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2494980154?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2494416309-kor0gmmycbmxd40mhpleq2dtmv27cq5pw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2544547265?p2
(note some of these are older versions of the team, I just haven't had the time to farm for replays this week)

anyways I do think there is some space for improvement, I'm super bad at like remembering basic matchups in the builder, but I think kouspikes is interesting and I think mixed rachi should be played around with more. -xlime

 

[MYSWEEPERISSHUCKLE]

Look at lil alakazam(first post so idk how to add big sprites)

The Team
What inspired the team:
I wanted to make an interesting team using Raikou for this competition and I wanted to use a lead Raikou to feel different. Furthermore, I wanted Raikou to bait some sort of high value target in and KO/neutralize it (as I've tried in the past to little success with Walrein, shoutout Forte for figuring something out with it). Finally, I wanted the team to be actually good as I consider myself a decent builder and want my first post to be good.

What are we trapping?:
Tar. We're luring Ttar. But how on earth does Kou lure Tar? Doesn't it just hit it, die, or give it a free DD? Well we can obviously trap it with Dug after, but what about it getting 2 DD's and 6-0ing?
How do we take advantage?:
There are a million mons that love the ability to gain lefties in sand: Salac Hera, Snorlax, and rain dancers just to name a few. But all of these mons get stonewalled by Skarm and give it 20 free turns (or just die to it) meaning I'd need to fit mag, or gets equally stonewalled by Bliss. Wait! Isn't this literally a special offense (bad) team? I mean sorta, but if we're already throwing so many resources to kill tar then how are we going to fit mag, or a even worse jump through hoops to kill Bliss. We won't. instead of going against the "flow" and rigidly trying to ko 3 different staples. We can pick mons that converge onto these mons effectively, and take advantage of tar being removed from the game (but you'll see that later ).

The mid ladder, sloppy, rising star:
This set is the spiciest on the team and is what stops us from getting 6-0'd by sloptar lead (even turning it into a very favorable matchup). Magnet and modest mean that we always 2hko non bulky tar lead meaning we only allow 1 DD from any frail tar (I don't respect bulky DD but that might just be because I'm not a fossil) and force them to either die to 2 tbolts because of greed, or get trapped by dug immediately after. It is still a 56% chance to 2hko without magnet but I played 3 games and never got the roll so I got mad and swapped to magnet. Finally sub and toxic are really cool, allowing us to spread damage to bliss and always be able to scout any lead sets. HP ice because I hate Flygon and with toxic and Satan (cune) you aren't too bad into it. If Kou is preserved, trading it for a toxic on standard pert might not be a horrible idea as it can bother Zam sweeps.
Quick lines for lead matchups:

tbolt turn 1 or sub if you're a scared, if they go bliss then sub on whatever status and start toxic stalling,

tbolt turn 1 as meta can be a threat to cune/zam sweeps, or sub and gamble on it being banded if you like some adventure (or because banded is probably on Phys/Spec off and Kou is incredibly good into both)

Sub turn 1 on twave/toxic and procced to make a bunch of progress. if they hp grass for whatever reason then tbolt and 2hko.

KO it turn 1 (staying in is actually very common) 56.3% chance to OHKO

Be very sad

Speak of the devil:
Nothing special really. Sunny day to hopefully clear weather for everybody. You won't always get the chance to clear weather but that's ok. The main focus is to kill Tar the mon, with no sand being a nice bonus. PSA going into DD Mence is not a very good punish to dug btw (unless it's vs special offense ig). Registeel + Cune can deal with mixed or DD and banded can be switched around.


The GOAT (Reigen from "Mob Psycho 100"):
Calm mind encore with psychic + fire coverage is very good and can trade with toxic bliss most times using synchronize. Is incredibly strong and encore is one of the best moves in the game. Stonewalled by Tar but Tar is always lured or thrown away (slop). Absolutely destroys any calm minder and sweeps slop if Registeel is chipped or low. Notably you should always switch into end pert as encoring a sub is can be game ending.

The gluer of Bullshit:
The mon that glues seemingly every offensive idea imaginable. Just standard but a more physically defensive set might be a good idea. trading this with DD Mence on slop is completely fine. Also trading this with standard pert is not a bad trade and can be helpful in a pinch. pivoting into toxics is crucial and using this with Mence to play around Aero is necessary.

NOT a dug punish:
But it is our dug punish . I chose mixed over anything else as interestingly, DD would be MU dividing into a Skarm weakness and mixed allows for a better pert matchup and converging on bliss. Also I would argue that mix-Mence is a better dug punish then DD Mence as chipping bulky waters like cune (while not needing to set up) is normally very valuable. As opposed to DDing on slop, doing 60% to Cune and dying when you have a Raikou and a Bi left (who will be trapped by dug)

The dumbass fool in a room of philosophers:
I don't even hate cune I just find it mind numbing and painfully easy to play. I chose cro cune over any other because I wanted a great abuser of sandless and a robust defenses against mix-Mence/fire birds after a dug trap. No roar because Zam encore stops most CMers and bulky sweepers. Dunning-Kruger is spelled wrong on purpose btw.

Final thoughts:
I accidentally made a team that is incredibly good into most slop (especially standard). I really liked building this team and feel pretty strongly that it's at least pretty good. Finally, I thought most of the mons are pretty "smart" in how they play (excluding cune ofc) with interesting interactions so I decided to look up fancy words and strain my brain for some wordplay in the names. EDIT I'm thinking of changing the CroCune to mono Ice beam or defensive with RestTalk to make better into Mence.

Replays:
I'm incredibly tired and am re writing this past Suicune so I won't explain each replay. Some games might be a slightly different version without magnet Kou but I'm not completely sure. Finally, yes I'm low on ladder, I'm a good teambuilder not a good player and this is the 5th Kou team I've built this week so there was lots of testing.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2545226893
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2545231437
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2545236092
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2545241047-fy6hqyy5x3l5244evtpuylb0twijdiwpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2545243621-alafqyh00jfshyd0254mb9dyls5odgupw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2545251113
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2545256613-j2u81tntdab1bxrxb5rw8uvpq6weeg7pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2545258151
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2545261761-7389btvy6sfgo4rjauypehdyh8mpv6spw

All Hail Dazi, Founder of slop and messiah to every brain rotted ladder player (like me).

 

[mrsunsmash]

We all know what "slop" refers to at this point. My understanding is: lead DDTar, Raikou, Registeel, DDMence, CM 3a Bi, Endpert. The plan is simple: break through as fast as possible and trade down mons that lead to a favorable endgame. It's about as close to "hyper-offense" as you can get in ADV as Registeel is basically the only defensive mon on the team. Slop is fairly weak to Spikes and Dugtrio, but the former is just a consequence of running no trappers or spinners, just 4-5 sweepers that happen to be grounded. The usual play is sending in Salamence when one of your mons gets trapped and killed and getting a free turn, but your opponent is also likely to have at least a check ready and the Dugtrio gets to live and trap something else later.

I call this team "Inverse Sandless Slop":

It's still weak to Spikes, but the Dugtrio weakness is patched up with the addition of Porygon2. I decided to swap out Tyranitar and ultimately make this a sandless team since everyone except Registeel would take chip damage; more importantly, it makes Substitute a better move on Raikou since it would still maintain Leftovers recovery. Anyways, it's called that because the game plan is still overall the same: we have 4 sweepers looking to break through the team and leading Registeel in order to throw off our opponent.

Team Paste

Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Counter
- Seismic Toss
- Explosion

To elaborate more on Registeel lead: even though this team is offensive, the opponent doesn't know that with no team preview. Some leads are just an auto switch vs it (Salamence, Suicune, Starmie, Aero, etc.) and Registeel gets to try spamming T Wave/Toss and I get to scout what my opponent's defensive options are. Tar is a mixup between Twave/switch to Gyara/Mence. Against Zapdos, it's usually Toss/T Wave eventually if I deduce they don't have Sub. If they switch in Swampert on the T Wave, I'll know to prioritize keeping Celebi/Raikou alive and get some chip on it so they can follow up for the KO. Explosion/Counter are always high value moves that generate a lot of momentum for the sweepers in the back. I would definitely hold it for Blissey/Snorlax as those are particularly hard matchups with this sandless structure.

---

Porygon2 @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Agility
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

Porygon2 functions as a secondary "wall" beyond just trapping Dugtrio. Recover and Ice Beam are given moves on P2 to ensure it can trap and 1v1 Dugtrio and also acts as a soft Salamence check. The last 2 moves on P2 are usually T Wave/Toxic/Tbolt/HP Brian, but I've decided to try and mix it up a little and make P2 spicier. Once Dugtrio is out of PP, P2 can max its speed out, then kill Dug, and then you are faster than anything coming in. If it's something that you can spam Ice Beam and get a freeze on, go nuts. If it's Blissey/Tar, surprise HP Fight. If it's something like a fighter, you have 2 flyers to respond.

---

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Hidden Power [Flying]

This Gyarados is Jolly and barely enough speed to outspeed Aero/Jolt at +1. It obviously annihilates Jolteon with EQ after +1, but trading with Aero by crippling it with T Wave is about as good as a trade as you're going to get. Sometimes your opponent will switch in Zapdos on you and get paralyzed and then it's joever for them with Raikou/Mence in the back. Not much to say about this guy other than he's great at intimidating and randomly paralyzing threats to your team. DO NOT save Gyara for last (usually...) since it is meant to do damage and spread para early on.

---

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 12 HP / 252 SpA / 244 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Giga Drain
- Psychic

Fast and hits hard. Besides Raikou and spamming Toss with Registeel, CM HP Fire is going to be your main way to hit Skarmory. We're maxed out on SpA to accomplish this and just enough speed to be faster than Jolly Heracross. Once you get enough boosts, Celebi becomes pretty threatening to most things not named Blissey. Even against Blissey, the goal is to trade down so Mence can get an opening and kill or set up later.

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Salamence @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 164 Atk / 204 SpD / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break

This DDMence has significant SpD investment to allow it to (usually...) live an unboosted Ice Beam from most mons. This is the infamous "penguin Mence" since it has no HP Flying and is running Brick Break to instakill Tar and heavily damage Blissey. Hopefully by the time you decide to click Dragon Dance, the enemy team has been heavily chipped/paralyzed and you can clean up from there.

---

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Finally, the star of the show. No nonsense, standard max Speed max SpA CM Sub Tbolt HP Grass Raikou. It hits a crucial speed tier and answers a lot of special threats like Starmie, Suicune, Gengar to name a few. Even though this one doesn't have HP Ice/Crunch, boosted Thunberbolts behind a Sub can still pose an issue to Celebi. I think Sub is an invaluable move on sandless Raikou as it helps it dodge status and crits when engaging in CM wars (sorry, sometimes it has to happen vs Blissey lol).

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Replays:
vs JoltSpikes Kingdra
vs ForreBliss
vs Spikesless Mixoff
vs ZapDug Specoff