ADV OU TBC Round 7 - UU Water Types (Won by Johnald)

[Spreek]

Teambuilding Competition - Round 7 (Too much water edition):

Your team must include at least one Water type ranked UU or lower.

Below are some examples to get ideas flowing, but feel free to choose any that meet the criteria:

:blastoise: :feraligatr: :golduck: :gorebyss: :lanturn::lapras: :omastar: :quagsire: :qwilfish: :slowking: :tentacruel: :walrein:

:azumarill: :kabutops: :mantine: :politoed: :poliwrath: :sharpedo: :wailord: :clamperl: :kingler:

 

[L3W]

Intro/Team Paste

:regirock: :celebi: :Lapras: :forretress: :donphan: :dragonite:

My most successful 4BL team this year has a UU water, so I’ll go ahead and share it. I still wasn’t able to reach the elusive 1800, with my best run falling short by just two points:

This team is just okay. It has several very exploitable weaknesses. That’s kinda the nature of the 4BL challenge; the OUs are OU for a reason. Not using them is always going to result in a less consistent build. So, judges, don’t give me first place lol.

For some context, right before building this team, I hit my personal best elo using this team from my good friend Giraffe's excellent team dump. My team has a lot of similarities to his, so I feel he deserves some credit for this as well.

I wasn't specifically building a BL team when the idea for this one struck me, but as I filled the team out I realized it could be done with BLs and decided to give it a shot.

Building Process

1. :celebi: + :lapras: + :skarmory:/:forretress:
The combo of cele and lapras handles both pert and cune long term, the two best defensive water types in the tier. With spikes, this enables physical breakers to wear them down over time. Heal bell support gives opportunity for the breaker to get statused by blissey or while trading with skarm & gar. The spiker is going to have to be skarm or forre; others don't have the typing or longevity to function on a balance like this.

2. :celebi: + :lapras: + :skarmory:/:forretress: + :regirock:
Since both OU slots are taken already, the physical breaker cannot be ttar, meta, or cb aero/mence/flygon. The options now are regirock, marowak, ursaring, machamp, armaldo, hariyama, aggron, and cb dragonite. Regirock is by far the best choice because it offers a lot of defensive utility as well. It’s the best UUBL anyway, so it should be on most 4BL teams.

Regirock gives flying, normal and fire resists. The latter is very important here because lapras doesn't resist fire moves. On this team, I wanted Regirock to be the main breaker and spikes abuser, so I gave it focus punch to hit grounds and steels and hidden power bug to hit claydol. This coverage leaves it walled only by rest suicune, milotic, and defensive jirachi. I already broke down the regirock and Dragonite sets in this post, so I won’t do it again here.

3. :celebi: + :lapras: + :skarmory:/:forretress: + :regirock: + :donphan:
Since this regirock doesn't actually beat tyranitar, and regirock doesn't resist slide, I need a ground type. Donphan & quagsire are the realistic choices for BL grounds. Donphan is more reliable vs dd tar & has spin, so it's a no brainer.

4. :celebi: + :lapras: + :forretress: + :regirock: + :donphan:
Even with hp ghost and cleric support, donphan won't suffice as the only spinner on a balance like this. Hence, forre is chosen over skarm.

5. :celebi: + :lapras: + :forretress: + :regirock: + :donphan: + :dragonite:
I’m still missing a floater, so I added a dragonite. Being ground immune is such an amazing quality that most of the usable ones are already OU ranked. Flying is actually the most represented type in the OU list at 7 mons, outdoing steel and water which have 6 each. And that doesn't even count the 3 OU levitators.

Luckily, Dragonite is ranked in BL and is pretty good. It’s the clear best option for this team as it adds some speed via dragon dance and a way to clean up after Regirock has weakened physical walls.

Set Details

:regirock: - See earlier linked post for explanation of the set. With curse, I can afford to drop some attack, keeping regirock at max hp and enough speed for cm bliss which otherwise wrecks this team. This speed also allows regirock to outspeed snorlax after a curse which is not trivial. Max HP is important here for dealing with charizard and mixmence, two huge threats to this team.

:dragonite: - I actually originally had twave instead of focus punch. This is a fine set and definitely helped some of the issues this team has with speed, but I ultimately settled on focus punch because I was having a tough time breaking milotic and suicune. I had a lot of fun clicking +1 focus punch throughout the run. My earlier linked post describes the set in a little more detail. I would have liked to run brick break on Dragonite, but earthquake was more important as the team is very weak to metagross and jirachi. I needed a decent way to clean up special offense teams.

The given spread guarantees you live blissey ice beam from full out of sand. It also gives a 15/16 roll to survive jolly cb aerodactyl rock slide + sand. Remember that Dragonite cannot be flinched by rock slide thanks to inner focus. After some chip on aero, usually from celebi, Dragonite can threaten to dd twice and win the game. The speed investment hits 220, allowing dnite to soft check most metagross and outrun base 100s after one dragon dance. Remaining EVs are dumped into attack to make Dragonite more of a threat. The bulk is generally helpful. In some situations, it’s better to have Dragonite than salamence because it’s not reliant on intimidate to take physical hits.

:celebi: - Here, celebi needs recover in order to answer pert zap & jolt long term. It also needs grass coverage. I don't believe in celebi without grass coverage on spikes teams because I don’t want to give out spins for free. Psychic isn't droppable either because I’m gengar weak and sub zap weak. I also need a way to pressure mixmence & zard if sand isn’t up. So, standard defensive celebi it is.

Compared to the standard set, I moved some defense into spdef to cope against off mie. I have regirock to handle snorlax anyway. Still wanted bold nature for dug, though.

:lapras: - I need heal bell here to enable regirock and Dragonite to break and forretress and donphan to trade with gengar and spin. This team has a glaring metagross weakness, so you could try heal bell cele + vaporeon, but as I said above, celebi kinda needs all 4 of its moves. Lapras it is.

Perish song is necessary for suicune and is also a little more proactive against it than haze from vaporeon. I feel ice beam is important here for pressuring stat pass celebi outside of just psong. Surf is undroppable because I need to be able to trade with metagross and special tar. It’s a great STAB combo offensively and hits a lot of teams very hard. I’d have loved to run thunderbolt to hit defensive starmie, but you can’t have it all.

Modest is almost entirely for pressuring meta & bi more, 136 is to hit a jump point. The power helps against things like tar zap jolt gar pert too. Lapras is generally pretty bulky without needing full investment, so I think modest gets you the most value. the defense is for metagross, but it also helps a lot versus salamence and swampert. I also gave it a bit of speed for bulky tyranitar.

:forretress: - Hp ghost hits/lures gengar & can damage mie and dol. It’s the best choice here. Counter helps the metagross weakness, it can damage skarm, it helps against dol if it
starts thinking it'll 1v1, and most importantly it allows you to kill dugtrio in 1 hit and try to chip heal forre later.

:donphan: - Of course, donphan needs eq and spin. Ghost is necessary for pressuring gengar, and it’s incidentally good for pressuring claydol.

For the last slot, I’d say the four viable options are toxic, rock slide, rest, and protect. There’s an argument for each of them, but ultimately I chose slide so I had a better option in case I had to 1v1 aero or a dd mon.

Full credit to Giraffe for the spdef idea on donphan. While it exacerbates the meta weakness, spdef comes in clutch vs so many things. The main one is tar - I don’t have a better initial switchin, and I can't afford to completely lose donphan if I come in on crunch or hp grass before knowing its moveset. Spdef ends up giving spin opportunities by 1v1ing gengar better & eating blissey ice beam and zapdos hidden power. Also, I think jirachi and raikou matchups would be almost unplayable without spdef on phan.

Overall game plan and team flow

I love the offense on this team. With spikes, regirock pressures physical walls nicely. Lapras and celebi are able to absorb their hits and regain momentum, eventually leading to a dragonite win. Every single member has a strong move against claydol, so spikes are usually going up in the long term. Besides Lapras, the same thing can be said for starmie. Dragonite does a great job of compensating for regirock’s inability to break hard stall.

This kind of team will often feature wish support, and I couldn’t fit it here, but double spin + leech seed gives me ways to chip heal my breakers and defensive pieces. On the topic of leech seed, recover celebi is great to force walls out without having to take a bunch of damage on regirock.

Last thing I’ll say here is that the team doesn’t *need* spikes to make progress because regirock and dragonite are threats in their own right and they break each other’s checks. In my opinion, every spikes team should have this quality. Spin is really common and really good, and the spikers are all trappable and vulnerable to being worn down.

Weaknesses

Roughly in descending order of difficulty, we have

• :metagross: - By far the biggest weakness as I alluded above. Not unplayable though - donphan checks in a pinch, lapras can trade, spikes + focus punch pressures it, dnite checks in a pinch, counter forre can trade, and celebi might be able to force boom. Forretress is my initial switch in, and I generally prefer trading with metagross via counter over setting a spike.
• :Charizard:/:salamence: - The team has no true mixed wall, only temporary checks. These two are very hard to play around, but lapras/regirock/donphan/dnite are all generally bulky & have tools to fight these two. The problem is not these mons in isolation; they don’t instantly sweep or anything. They just often do too much damage too quickly relative to how quickly my own team is able to set up a dragonite end game.
• :starmie:/:gengar:/:suicune:/:jirachi:/:raikou:/:moltres: - Again, none of these spell certain disaster, but the team is frustratingly weak to offensive special attackers with good coverage. Starmie is always one prediction, crit or freeze away from completely taking over. The fact that dragonite doesn’t outspeed many of these attackers at +1 makes it worse, too. This is why defensive celebi has fallen off and is mainly seen next to blissey nowadays. I did try a version of the team with blissey + ludicolo instead of celebi + lapras to address this weakness, but I felt that this configuration was stronger as celebi is much less passive overall and I kept losing to swampert.
• :skarmory: + :gengar: - What team isn't weak to these two? Despite double spinners with hp ghost & heal bell support, many battles against this combo are uphill.
• :starmie: + threats - Certain versions of defensive starmie were impossible to progress against meaning I’d lose pretty quickly. Dropping hp bug on forre comes with a price. Luckily, these matchups weren’t too common.

Replays

Here are all my replays from 1500 to 1798. It was a bit of a struggle as this isn’t the most consistent team out there. This was just one of several runs that started at 1500 and reached 1775+. I’m sure I could brute force it, but I’d rather not spend any more time on this. I’ll do another BL run only if I can think of something stronger.

Closing thoughts

I think this team has a lot of really cool concepts but ultimately falls a bit short in its execution. I’m not sure any OUs can fix it. The obvious choice is using rest or taunt gyara in place of dragonite as this would give me a better metagross answer. With gyarados helping against suicune as well, maybe Lapras could be replaced with something like blissey. That could work. I don’t think regirock, donphan, forre or celebi are easily replaceable. Anyway, that’s beside the point.

I mainly wanted to share this team because I think it’s really creative and unusually effective given how many non standard mons and sets it uses. It’s a good example of just how complex pokemon is and how many sets and synergies can be discovered if you practice a lot and look a little deeper.

 

[GamblingAddict]

Lead ThiefWrath + Forre Balance: https://pokepast.es/e0d2133e9cb1bbcd​

Hi! GamblingAddict here,
I'm still pretty new to ADV OU and have only been playing the tier for a couple of months after being introduced to it through Jimothy and BKC. When Spreek announced the competition was about building around a UU Pokémon or lower, I figured it was the perfect excuse to show off a team I've been experimenting with on ladder.

The team is built around lead Poliwrath, using a Thief + Hypnosis set that I think is heavily underappreciated, which is an idea I got from an Arctic youtube video featuring this set. Poliwrath has always been one of my favorite Pokémon design-wise, so I wanted to see if I could build something competitive around it. It's definitely not a perfect team, but it's been a lot of fun and has performed surprisingly well.

Team Building​

The team started with lead Wrath, which has solid matchups into Tyranitar and bulky Water leads while also being able to steal leftovers and sleep although hypnosis is inaccurate can it still be useful on potential switchouts.

Forretress because Thief becomes much more threatening when Spikes are on the field, and Forretress gives the team both Spikes and Rapid Spin in one slot.

Wish Bliss, mainly because I wanted a reliable answer to Zapdos. Wish also gives Wrath a second life and helps keep the rest of the bulky core healthy throughout longer games.

To pressure defensive teams Boah Tar was chosen; it combines perfectly with Wrath stealing leftovers, with sandstorm for improved passive damage

I originally used a standard defensive Swampert, but later switched to Cursepert to give the team another potential win condition while still checking Tyranitar and Meta/Jirachi.

Finally, I wanted another special wallbreaker that appreciated Poliwrath's Water Absorb support, so I finished the team with Zard.

Poliwrath​

Poliwrath @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thief
- Brick Break
- Focus Punch
- Hypnosis

EV Spread​

248 HP
Maximizes overall bulk while minimizing passive damage.

240 Attack + Adamant
Allows Brick Break and Focus Punch to hit as hard as possible.

20 Speed
Outspeeds most defensive Skarmory, letting Poliwrath finish it off later in the game before it can move.

Good Matchups​

• Tyranitar
• Blissey
• Snorlax
• Swampert
• Milotic
• Suicune

Difficult Matchups​

• Celebi
• Zapdos
• Gengar
• Salamence

Poliwrath is obviously the centerpiece of the team. I think it's a very underexplored Pokémon that has some genuinely useful traits in ADV OU(it shouldn't be RU in my opinion). Water Absorb gives it excellent matchups into Suicune and other bulky Waters while also checking Tyranitar, two Pokémon that are everywhere on the ladder.

The set is pretty straightforward. It's EV'd to hit as hard as possible while creeping defensive Skarm.

Against leads like Tyranitar and Suicune, I usually click thief immediately. Removing leftovers early is huge on a Spikes team, especially once Tyranitar gets Sand up. Ideally you'll also catch a switch-in like Gengar, Zapdos, Salamence or Moltress, all of which hate losing their recovery.

Hypnosis is another part of the set. Catching an incoming switch can completely change the pace of the game and creates opportunities to fire off Focus Punch later.

Against bad lead matchups, I usually don't try to force anything and simply switch out.

Forretress​

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Hidden Power Ghost
- Explosion
I'm a huge Forretress believer. Having both Spikes and Rapid Spin in one slot is incredible, and Steel is arguably the best defensive typing in ADV.

The game plan is simple: get Spikes up, remove opposing Spikes whenever possible, and preserve Forretress until it's done its job.

Hidden Power Ghost mainly punishes Gengar and Celibi trying to switch in and block Rapid Spin. Once the opposing Spiker is gone and Forretress has fulfilled its role, I'm usually happy to click Explosion to remove an important defensive Pokémon and create momentum.

Blissey

Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def / 236 SpA / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Ice Beam
- Wish
I feel Wrath really needs either Bliss or Jolt to comfortably deal with Zap leads. I wasn't sure whether Calm Mind or Wish would be better, but I settled on Wish.

Wish gives Wrath a second life surprisingly often, while Ttar, Pert, and Forre all appreciate the extra recovery.

The EV spread maximizes physical bulk while still giving Ice Beam enough power to pressure Mence and Flygon.

I used to hate using Bliss, but after finally giving it a chance a couple of months ago I've completely converted.

Tyranitar

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpA / 24 Spe
Modest Nature
- Crunch
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Punch

Classic BoahTar.

I know SuitTar is probably the better fit here, but Boah is just more fun to use.

Since BoahTar is often leading in teams, people often don't expect the set. Behind Substitute it makes incredible progress against balanced and stall teams.

The biggest downside is Gengar often clicks Will-o-wisp into Wrath. It often switches into wisp, making Focus Punch much weaker against Blissey later in the game.

Tbolt mainly targets bulky waters and Skarm, while Crunch is usually my safest click against Gar andDol.

Boah also complements Wrath really well. Poliwrath steals Leftovers and spreads sleep early, while Tyranitar abuses Sand and Spikes to slowly overwhelm defensive teams.

Swampert

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 136 Atk / 44 SpA / 44 SpD / 44 Spe
Brave Nature
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hydro Pump

I originally used the standard defensive Roar Swampert, but after more games I felt the team lacked immediate firepower. I eventually switched to CursePert, which has felt much stronger in practice.

I borrowed the set from the giraffe's most recent team dump, and it has been working well.

Swampert remains the team's primary rock resist alongside Wrath while also checking Tyranitar, Metagross, and Jirachi.

Rock Slide is especially useful for hitting Hidden Power Ice Zapdos and Moltres, two Pokémon that can otherwise become annoying over longer games.

I've experimented with defensive Flygon in this slot, but it never felt as bulky or as threatening as Pert. Claydol is another possibility if you want a second spinner, while CB Flygon could give the team a stronger offensive presence.

Whether Cursepert or Defpert is actually better is still hard for me to say. I don't have a huge sample size with the team yet, so I'm still experimenting.

Charizard​

Charizard @ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power Grass
- Beat Up
- Dragon Claw/Roar

Last but definitely not least is Charizard, the team's primary special wallbreaker.

The original reason I added it was simply, I love Zard.

Fortunately it ended up fitting the team surprisingly well. Water Absorb Poliwrath creates interesting mind games, forcing opponents to think twice before freely clicking Surf or Hydro Pump. Even if Poliwrath never switches in, just representing Water Absorb can influence your opponent's decisions.

Charizard pressures many of the Pokémon Poliwrath struggles with, including Skarmory, Celebi, Metagross, and Jirachi. Hidden Power Grass punishes Swampert, while Fire Blast becomes incredibly difficult to switch into once Blaze is activated.

I've also tried Moltres here, but I usually preferred Charizard's extra speed and the added breaking power Blaze provides.

The EV spread is completely standard: maximize Speed and Special Attack. Beat Up is a fun piece of tech that can punish Bliss while Dragon Claw mainly provides reliable neutral coverage and a way to hit Salamence. One possible tweak I'd make to the set is replacing D Claw with Roar. It prevents Celebi from freely setting up and using Baton Pass, while also giving you another way to rack up Spikes damage.

General Game Plan​

The game plan is fairly simple. Try to get Wrath in on bulky Waters or special walls like Blissey and Snorlax whenever possible, forcing progress through Thief, Hypnosis, and Focus Punch.

At the same time, use Forre to establish Spikes and remove opposing hazards. Once Sand is up and leftovers have been stolen, the passive damage starts to add up very quickly.

Wish from Bliss is another important part of the team. Keeping Wrath healthy with timely Wish passes often lets it come back later to steal another item, spread sleep, or force more progress.

The team doesn't usually win by sweeping immediately. Instead, it slowly chips away at the opponent through Spikes, Sand, and repeated switches until Ttar, CursePert/Wrath or Zard can finish the job. And shoutouts to Arctic for giving me the Poliwrath idea, it has been very fun to use.

Edit: the ThiefWrath obviously isn’t supposed to have Leftovers. I didn’t notice this when I shared the paste.

 

[Johnald]

Interesting Prompt. I tried to build something new but nothing was working well. Last year I built a :Lapras: team that I am quite proud of and wanted to share. (EVs are explained in the pokepaste)

https://pokepast.es/8abd56103f32fe49

This team was built with an idea of a spikeless beatdown offense that can play an extended game against balance and stall teams.

:Breloom:
This was the mon I wanted to center the team around. My main goal was to maximize the value I can get out of spore and focus punch.
It has really bad 4 mss.
I decided to run all three fighting moves and deal with the lack of coverage with other members of my team.

:Tyranitar:
Was added to pursuit trap :gengar::celebi::starmie::claydol: which are the main issues with running Breloom w/o hp ghost.
Sand also helps focus punch's damage stick on common switch ins such as :Zapdos: :Salamence: and :Charizard:.
It can also pursuit trap :dugtrio: after a mach punch giving the other grounded members breathing room.
EQ is here to help with Raikou and CM Jira.

:Registeel:
Another set I wanted to try out was spreeks curse 3a registeel. This set is great at beating down skarmory and functions as a both a breaker/wall.
It has great synergy with pursuit support eliminating gengar.
Breloom helps patch up registeels weakness to physical Tyranitar.

:Lapras:
Lapras has great coverage with water, ice, and electric. STAB IB is a surprisingly good midground that allows you to not rely on pump.
Water absorb relieves Registeel from having to switch into strong water attacks. It also helps you fight against Endpert.
Heal Bell helps your team trade against bulkier teams that use status to deal with offense.

:Claydol:
Spikes are inevitably going up since the plan to deal with forre/skarm is to beat them down over time.
Psychic is droppable due to pursuit support.
Ice beam helps support Lapras, since our team is now soft into Mence and Aero. It is also good against subZap shenanigans.

:Charizard:
Functions as our fast revenge killer.
Helps deal with Metagross since Lapras takes neutral to meteor mash.
Beatup feels amazing with heal bell support and atk stats of Breloom and Ttar.
Overheat is used to OHKO fighters and mons Breloom has chipped with focus punch.
Not having focus punch or dclaw is fine here since we have mach punch on loom and ib on dol.


https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen3ou-869238
Here is a replay from semifinals of ADV CUP 2025 which I think showcases the team well.
I keep coming back to using this team because it's so much fun to use :)

 

[freezingpop87]

Hi everyone! I've been meaning to work on one of these for the longest time, so I think it's a great opportunity to get a few ideas roasted by some of the best in the community! I've already written a bit about this team of mine over at RMT, but I'm recycling it for this hehe

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/bananas-and-blow-wailord-mixoff.3783443/ https://pokepast.es/012d9b6065e7e88e

This is Bananas and Blow, and the idea is pretty simple.

Its main goal is to (click Water Spout and) blow up. Water Spout and Self Destruct is what sets Wailord apart from all the other water types and both of these options support the rest of the team really well. Its an amazing special lure and being able to remove one or two threats is phenomenal value for this mon. Of course it's a good lure and not really good at making progress vs Bliss or Celebi, but it's a good entry point for the whale's partners to rip further holes into the enemy team, especially with the boom core of this team.

CB Meta and Lax complement eachother really well, both can come in on Bliss and get the momentum going both by clicking Mash and FP with Lax. CB Meta switches into Lax and SD Lax can annoy (with enough prediction) Celebi and Tar.

Boom + CM Cune is a tried and true (do I get points for Ween references?) combo and it's one of the oldest tricks in the book. Cune is a very potent mon and this team targets Bliss really hard and also offloads a lot of its special checking duties with CM Celebi and Lax. Another plus is not bringing sand helps Lax and Cune immensely.

The Zap MU was still a bit dicey, especially with Spikes down so I decided on Celebi next. Leech 3a sets were really slow paced on this type of momentum offense but I still missed the chip that Leech gets against common celebi switch ins so I decided on Leech CM with HP Fire to help against Skarm and Forry. It's also a potential sweeper when the right conditions are met.

To round things off and clean I think no other mon appreciates luring and booming water types and bliss more than DD Mence. At this point when building the team I noticed that I couldn't be weak to steels, Aero and DDTar, so Mence had to be EQ. I also wanted BB to clean up against a well played Bliss that, if everything else failed, survived. I landed on HP Flyless Mence.


Despite all of the momentum I think the worst MUs for this team are rock spam and v5. This team does lack a solid, healing rock resist, but I think the booms and Cune make up for it somewhat. This is overall a cool team that I bought and it ended up winning when I brought it https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen3ou-914660.

 

[airports]

https://pokepast.es/8b4ff5eacb4548fd

poliwrath, jolt and mixmence

1.poliwrath's ability to switch-in to certain water types is typical of special walls, whilst its ability to switch-in to tyranitar is typical of physical walls
2. this analysis will classify poliwrath as a special wall that provides physical walling support, not a physical wall that provides special walling suppport, though either is reasonable
3. poliwrath can support an offensive, frail physical wall, in this case mixmence, however, to wall special attackers, it itself requires support, in this case jolteon
4. the support required by poliwrath would be sufficient to sustain an offensive, frail special wall, which is to say that poliwrath is both exclusive and inclusive of an additional attacker. moreover, these pokemon, the offensive special wall poliwrath excludes and the offensive physical wall it includes, are liable to be the same
5. so, in the context of supporting an additional attacker, poliwrath's use is that it supports a combination of a sturdy special wall, jolt-supported poliwrath, and an offensive, frail physical wall, mixmence, as opposed to a combination of a sturdy physical wall, swampert, and an offensive, frail special wall, jolt-supported ddmence

the remaining team

- sunny day mixmence facilitates phys. def forre to spike by acting as a light screen against enemy water types. alongside poliwrath, phys. def further fortifies mixmence to wall physical attackers
- forre can self-suffiently spike versus claydol and starmie and stalemate certain varients and arrangements of enemy forre
- zapdos prevents jolt and poli being overwhelmed between their dedicated and supporting roles as well as to situationally switch-in to metagross
- 4atktar uses spikes to hit and run, sets sand, switches-in to the pixies, and nullifies blissey. a team with two electric types that aren't intended to trade with blissey needs a switch-in to it

poliwrath is an awesome pokemon and, in my estimation, one of the absolute best lower tiers for the ou metagame. whilst in this analysis ive attempted to articulate one of its main roles, there are more. to this end, im sharing some more poli teams ive built even if im not submitting them to the competition. thanks

edit 1

i replaced forre's eq with toxic so that the team isn't so cartoonishly afraid of enemy ddmence and, to compensate for forre's subsequent inability to beat metagross, changed zapdos to a more physically bulky variant

edit 2

phys def zap wasnt inspiring, so ive replaced ddmence with mixmence as the cleaner, on forre, toxic with eq, and phys.def zap with sp.def zap

 

[Raised by Wolves]

I put CB Azumarill in the place of Heracross on a mostly typical Blue Offense composition and had some cool moments on low ELO.

Here's a game where Azuboy was relevant.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2662010319

I'll add descriptions and pokepaste after working a bit more on it, if it's really worth it anyway.

Edit - Here's the final version I think, may edit again later.

https://pokepast.es/16ef1a3f0e4d4a9a

Basically a Blue Offense with Pursuit Metagross that Endill posted in another topic of this forum, replacing Heracross with Azumarill. Also Suicune is much more defensive in this one because it does a lot of heavy lifting defensively.

The idea is that trapping Gengar and Skarmory makes it way easier to click buttons with Azumarill. Trapping Gengar also enables Azuboy to pick a Hidden Power other than Ghost.

The main problem is that heavily SpD invested Gengars with Fire Punch will be awful to deal with. And those are the standard version apparently.

Now for the man himself:

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Focus Punch
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Brick Break

Speed enough to be faster than most Swampert, but being faster than Blissey is probably enough.

Without a pursuiter on the team, the HP would have to be Ghost. With one, you can go with HP Bug, Ground or Rock.

Here's a replay that showcases Azumarill's potential. I ended up losing this one because I blundered Snorlax and had too much trouble with Gengar, but Azumarill took 75% from both Skarm and Bliss.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2662336751

 

[Rainy]

https://pokepast.es/342760ace6fd2fa6

My water of choice was the ever majestic :golduck:. This duck has the unique ability of Cloud nine, which makes it an offensive water unaffeected by sandstorm. With that in mind I decided to build with it on special offense using the following set:
Red-X (Golduck) @ Salac Berry
Ability: Cloud Nine
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Endure
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam

:golduck: shares a speed tier with suicune and heracross, so unfortunately a lot of ou is already teched to beat it, but at +1 it leaves ou in the dust. Special offense typically rely's on the base speed of threats like :zapdos: , :jirachi: , :celebi: , and sometimes :starmie: to attack the tier with fast, super effective coverage. This works great, until the opposing team outspeeds you. Enter :aerodactyl: , one of the mons spec off least hopes to see. Things like :blissey: can be beaten with a bulky :dugtrio: and some heads-up positioning , and things like :snorlax: can often be rolled over by simply trading your threats into it, but :aerodactyl: can just stop your sweeper in it's tracks, then just switch out and put an end to your fun when it revenges. :golduck: is a very special type of cm-er in that with a salac boost, it can't be beaten by :aerodactyl:. With that in mind though, :golduck: struggles into a few problem mons of it's own, which is where our lead comes in.

:jynx: is no stranger to spec off, but the set I opted for feels a bit unique. I opted to go for a mean look perish song strategy as it notably beats mono waters (:suicune:, :milotic:, Def :starmie:) which :golduck: is a bit helpless into. It of course also beats :blissey:, but resolving that trap is often a bit optimistic. Sometimes you can even get away with just clicking perish song without a mean look as well, as :dugtrio: 's arena trap can lock the opponent for an extra turn, or as many turns as you need thanks to another odd choice; substitute CB :dugtrio:.

Typically spec off likes to run a bulky :dugtrio: beat up to most effectively beat :blissey:, but with :gengar:'s explosion and :celebi:'s leech seed the matchup is pretty playable. The advantage of running a fast, bulkless :dugtrio: is the ability to countertrap other :dugtrio:, as otherwise it can be a bit annoying. Then again, not being revenged by :dugtrio: is one of :golduck:'s positive traits.

As mentioned, to round out the team I went with offensive :gengar: who is great offensive threat who can boom in a pinch. Calm mind leech seed :celebi: is good at breaking through some of the water types :golduck: struggles with. Grass + fire coverage helps to beat water types, :tyranitar: and also not give free layers to :skarmory:. The last I decided on was :jirachi:, as the team was notably rock weak at that point. I went with a super set because it can just win some games, and after a small amount of chip it can breeze past :metagross: and :tyranitar:.

Overall the team is a ton of fun, and feels really powerful outside of a few matchups. Notably :snorlax:, DD :tyranitar: and :salamence: can give this team a lot of trouble. Often times you need to rely on :golduck: to prevent a sweep there, but that makes it harder to win with it.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2658753057-4fqc8wwqxh639vsca2bnvm5e3wmvm7opw - RoA Team Trials
https://psim.us/r/gen3ou-2661508676 - Mushi
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2549811015 - KOTH

I feel like there's definately some room for optimization, but in some cases the duck was just what I needed

 

[Astamatitos]

Walrein is actually a half decent spikes abuser thanks to encore and it provides a nice cune check to jolt teams which are otherwise weak to offensive waters.

https://pokepast.es/424127a4f9de1797

101 hp subs means you get to play mindgames with Blissey and Registeel without ceding status on yourself immediately, and encore allows you to force 5050s vs them.

It has surprisingly good synergy with Jolt allowing you to pivot boltbeam coverage.

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2662384226-7ohn5pebxqruiotui7ii96jd20t1yfhpw
Spike war vs bulky offense

Here the opp already knew i had jolt in the back so it was Walrein mindgames all game:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2662395471-m7kq8rf3239xhe4ofeq6a2y8hlftu4rpw

 

[WraxiusGaming]

https://pokepast.es/515222db84cb411d
Hello I made omastar spikeless spike offense. A common issue with spikeless offense, special offense variants especially, are their abysmal alternative special wall matchup should they not hit the blissey trap. While hitting the blissey trap is really likely, I believe I heard the chance is around 85% with crit and freeze included, its still not that reliable and can result in an instant loss should it fail, your opponent has multiple ways of dealing with your barrage of special threats, or your primary gameplan simply falls onto itself as special offense is prone to doing. This team was one option that I thought could get around the issue if you hate that aspect of special offense.

Zapdos
A relatively fast set. It's not unique by any means, 216 hp is a known benchmark for +1 modest suicune ice beams and +1 salamence rock slides. It's also just generally good bulk for any matchup where you see neither present, such as if you face non wall special or mixed attackers like Zapdos, Moltres, Charizard, MixMence, and so on. The speed benchmark is 274, for for a lot of pokemon in the 262-273 range, such as modest Moltres, DDMence, or some pixies. I wanted to go faster, but the loss in power was too great past this point. Light Screen shores up the otherwise scary matchup into special threats once the mid and endgame begin, where your ttar and registeel might be dead, and other move options like statuses or rest felt less effective in tests. It's a good pokemon and into matchups without special walls, Zapdos cleans without spikes, and into matchups with special walls, Zapdos has the tools to break them down with our next team member.

Omastar
The namesake of the very confusing team. Spikeless Spike Offense is a style that is mainly built out of Omastar's powerful 115 base Special Attack, much higher than already used and agreed to be quite strong attacks like Swampert's base 85 Special Attack or Suicune's base 90 Special Attack stats. Pump is an unfortunate but necessary option on this team to pressure water resists without recovery and water neutrals that are meant to eat water hits for teammates, like Jolteon and Skarmory, that otherwise can survive 2 surfs (if only barely). In matchups where you find special walls, usually ones that switch into Zapdos or Gengar, you can set spikes onto the field and chip them down with passive damage alongside Tyranitar's sand. The team also has enough offensive presence and Omastar's base stats are high enough that the dug weakness isn't too noticeable. Dugtrio Offense struggles to switch into hydro pumps, regardless of spikes, and Dugtrio stall has its hands full with the combination of Ada DDTar, Gengar, DDMence with spikes, and powerful special attacks to afford a spin or a dug double. The HP turns a lot of rolls into guarantee lives, which is nice and relatively free, going max SpA doesnt make any surf rolls better, and 184 SpA doesn't lose anything with Pump or Ice Beam. 209 speed gets past a lot of slow pokemon and creates some positive interactions, especially vs opposing waters but also into Skarm, Meta, and bulky DDTars.

Registeel
Unfortunately, while my own team is quite potent offensively, it does need to survive some hits. Notably, Swampert, Aerodactyl, Metagross, and opposing DDMence are concerns that Registeel can trade into. Additionally, Registeel is basically a water resist for the pace this team plays at, so it ends up more or less fine. It does almost look like the team is putting Registeel onto it to bandaid a lot of problems, but the pace of the team means that Registeel only ends up needing to handle one threat in the short term, trades using either counter or boom in the midgame, and then any of the other potent sweeping threats clean up the endgame.

Tyranitar
I wanted Sand on this team, to pressure Snorlax. Without tyranitar, you end up in the same issue many of the dug offenses that Jynxdug or Zapdug fall into, where you just kinda hit lax until it dies and hope what remains trades better. Additionally. Tyranitar pressures a lot of special walls by just being able to switch in well. The Lum Berry means that Gengar, TWave Blissey, and TWave Registeel aren't as effective into you as they'd like, and the full aggro DD was an idea inspired by the older Italian Offenses that existed until the speedpass ban. I looked at bulkier sets, but I found that I needed Lum Berry to not just be fishing for wisp miss or hoping I got more turns right in the midgame, and Lum Berry really streamlined the process of ending games. Adamant full atk DDTar is also a Tar more than capable of ending the game with only 1 boost and 0 spikes, should the Swampert or Metagross trade go as planned. Many times I do find myself just having Tar v Tar and accepting the trade, it is a very volatile situation, but Tar's natural bulk means they need to at least get the full focus punch to kill you, and the bulk investment allows me to live +1 144+ TTar EQ, so I do have some guaranteed value.

Gengar
On such an aggro build, you need a way to spinblock. Either so much offensive pressure spinning would be too low tempo, a spinner that has set options to win against spinners, or a ghost type that is immune to the effects of rapid spin. On this team, Offensive Gengar was a natural fit. Gengar is already a slot on many special offenses, where the high offensive investment and incredible coverage finds itself taking a lot of lives, and the boom is strong enough to kill most pokemon that aren't explictitly special walls, especially alongside the passive damage this team presents. Of course, into teams that you don't spike on, these teams are commonly weak to gengar in whole different ways, often struggling into the high speed and rainbow coverage presented. Lastly, Gengar doesn't need suittar bulk on a team such as this, so I put some investment into speed for defmies and gars creeping defmies, and put the rest into my Special Attack to be just a bit more threatening. I tried Destiny Bond, Wisp, and Taunt over an attacking move or over boom, but these 4 slots gave me the most success, so its what I've stuck with.

Salamence
DDMence is good on spikeless, but its also good on spikes. A pokemon that's so adept to fit onto both structures and benefits from the inclusion of Registeel and DDTar to trade is a godsend. Additionally, Salamence shores up a lot of otherwise difficult matchups, such as mixed attackers and the bulkier offense styles we keep seeing. Brick Break is great, secures kills on special walls that spikes chips down, and the presence of Omastar trades better enough into Meta and Rachi that you end up just fine. I ran with penguin in tests, but I found that flying was really good for getting those tight kills on Starmie, Claydol, and Celebi primarily, and Salamence found itself facing these threats more than steels.

Overall I really enjoyed building this team, and it really felt fun to basically build 2 teams in one using the compression provided by Omastar's unique profile as the strongest water and a spiker, within the limit of a 6 pokemon team. This is definitely one of the most fun prompts in recent memory, and I look forward to the next one that gets me excited to build more.

 

[Shitrock enjoyer]

:rs/aerodactyl::rs/entei::rs/registeel::rs/swampert::rs/tyranitar::rs/kabutops:

I didn't test this but it might be good, I was lowkey kinda bored and decided to make a Kabu team

At first, I went with AeroDug which made the most sense (break steels into Flail Kabu sweep) but thats honestly extremely boring, sure I can build a cookie cutter 6 with them and make some "auraful" choices but eh.

Then I arrived at the idea of Entei, since I was using Registeel for compression and Tox+Dug combo, I needed a Gar in and I wanted a more potent Ttar than RS/Crunch/Grass/FP, especially against the pesky steels that ruin Flail Kabu's day. Entei is perfect at abusing opp Registeel + checking Gar in one. It also checks the pixies which is very important for the Kabutops. I had some experience with Entei since I wasted my time testing it prior, anyway here comes all the sets, one by one:

:rs/aerodactyl:

Aerodactyl @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 160 Atk / 252 SpA / 96 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 30 Def / 30 SpA
- Substitute
- Rock Slide
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]

I stole this from Asta. Hits 352 spe and can break MetaSkarm for Kabu. Its also excellent at luring Pert which is EXTREMELY important for the Kabutops, the idea is to lead and be able to freely sub t1 vs everything. I think with this team you also sub t1 vs meta to scout. Its basically a breaker for Kabu there's not much to understand further

:rs/entei:

Entei @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 132 HP / 196 SpA / 140 SpD / 40 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]

I already explained the reasons partially but its mostly a glue mon for the team where it deals with Gar+pixies while also giving an extra water lure for you (luring Monowaters is also a big deal for Kabu, lol) but it could probably also chip Flygon into Flail range or something or making so that Mence doesnt intim stall as easily. Mostly a MU division type of mon too to manhandle teams that go heavy on Steels or the pixies which Kabu won't be very good vs. Theres probably some synergy abt chipping Aero into Flail range, lol

:rs/registeel:

Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Atk / 112 SpD / 60 Spe
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Explosion
- Seismic Toss
- Superpower

This is legit just your standard Registeel. It compresses backbones, allows for shitmon building, we all know this. Superpower is motivated given the choices on Ttar and Aero, since both will have HPGrass if the Pert doesn't get lured upon with them, well you probably lost the game and this team also wants to lure down Ttar for both Entei and Kabu, I thought of dropping TW but it's important at stopping AgiMeta and DDMence, allowing Pert to trade more heavily

:rs/swampert:

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 144 Atk / 176 SpA / 188 Spe
Naive Nature
- Endeavor
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake

Yeah this set choice is bizzare. I think I still want Lefties+the coverage in a pinch because of the defensive duties, at the same time running this much speed to finish off chipped Milo/Cune with invested EQ, especially CM Cune which is a pain in the ass (I probably lose to t1 sub cm but whatever, lead ttar if its that concerning). Endeavor is to give a surprise bang at low HP, especially against mons like Milo or Lax, it's also specifically good vs Blissey, which is probably a pain in some way if using TW. +Spe also gives it juice into MetaTar allowing you to outoffense at times (probably) and Endeavor just has aura (brainrot)

:rs/tyranitar:

Tyranitar @ Black Belt
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 184 HP / 136 SpA / 188 Spe
Mild Nature
- Fire Blast
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Brick Break

Another WEIRD choice but the idea is simple. Fire Blast damages the steel types for Kabu, esp with this speed to press Metagross but MOST IMPORTANTLY Fire Blast = no electric move usually which means you can press Milo/Cune with this by Thundering after revealing Fire Blast, which usually opens up Entei or Aero (also opens up Kabu). Black Belt Brick is to press on Ttar and Blissey, but it probably still does peanuts and the damage vs Claydol is unappealing (but Registeel should lure Claydol some % of the time)

:rs/kabutops:

Kabutops @ Salac Berry
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Endure
- Flail
- Rock Slide

It's a Flail sweeper. That's it.


Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/36e3f068d321b12d

Thoughts and weakness

- This team probably gets 6-0ed by Flygon and Sub CM Suicune
- This team is probably not good
- Entei is not that bad
- Kabu probably is bad
- This team is fun into Swampert or Metagross timmy so if a guy doesnt use Flygon you can probably bust ts out, its probably shite into the superman jimmy that comes into ladder which means ur 6-0ed. Maybe use HP Ice Entei and teach that fucker a lesson

See you all.

 

[3NVENTION]

https://pokepast.es/e62fc6c74322c5bb
LUNATIC LANTURN

Hello, this is my first time participating in a teambuilding comp. I’m a newer player of mons and wanted to see what I could do. This prompt was pretty difficult for me, but I’m glad I stuck it out and made a team I’m happy with.

-

What Makes Lanturn Special?
Lanturn uses its Volt Absorb + Water Typing to pivot into electrics and Starmie safely. It can then threaten them out with its amazing BoltBeam coverage. STAB water and electric moves allows it to deal great damage to Tyranitar and Suicune as well.

However, Lanturn has many problems. It has no way to break through special walls, it is trapped easily by dugtrio, and it can’t stay in against anything that has an earthquake ready for it. Lanturn’s job is also made difficult by its middling statline, which forces its EV’s to be spread thin. Though Lanturn can pivot in on thunderbolts, it certainly does not enjoy taking HPGrasses (or even multiple hydros from starmie throughout a game). Because of this, you really want to invest some bulk.. However, its base speed is also quite low. If you wanna hope to outspeed Tar and Meta, you need to invest quite a bit. But then you remember that Lanturn also only has 76 base SpAtk, and you need to pump that up to even dream of being a threat. Lanturn will never be defensively and offensively amazing, but we need it to be just good enough at both to justify the slot.

It’s because of this that I only considered a spike offense for this mon. Shorter games means Lanturn only has to pivot in a few times, and spikes chip really helps Lanturn in picking off enemies.

For the set, I knew I wanted to use all 3 coverage moves and it was just deciding the 4th after that. I went with Substitute because I felt it had the most use cases. You can use it to scout opponent switches, scout CBMeta’s move, dodge toxic from Milo, and cope against dugtrio switching on your TBolt. Lanturn also has easy 404HP subs which means you can sub up against most Registeel. HPGrass could also be good to reliably trade Lanturn into Pert, but I decided against it because it only does 20% more than Hydro. I’m also not using Surf because Lanturn really wants the power against Tar, Meta, Dol, Everything.

This Lanturn hits 212 speed, which outspeeds bulky Tars, most Metagross, as well as some defensive Suicune. I really wouldn’t go any slower on Lanturn. You can EV defense on this to live EQs from full, but Lanturn ends up getting chipped most of the time so it really isn’t worth it. I’d much rather pump those EVs into more special bulk, and once you start taking from the SpA you really start to feel weak. I invested 208+ SpA because it hits a jump point, and then threw the rest into SpD. This almost always survives 2 Modest HPGrass from Zapdos.

- Choosing Teammates

Tyranitar - I want sand. I chose BKC Tar as It’s the best Tar at switching into and forcing out Bliss multiple times per game, which happens often with Lanturn. Double in your Tar on Bliss often. Click Focus Punch often. I thought about dragon dance but I think this set synergizes with the team style better (pivoting and outplaying rather than forcefully breaking).

Skarmory - I really tried to make Cloyster work before Skarm, but I found that any team I built ended up too weak against Meta or Pert. I also now think that Lanturn synergizes more with Skarm than Cloy. Cloy feels more suited to flow style offenses which Lanturn is not great in. Skarm also has the added benefit of pivoting in on EQ which Lanturn baits. I went with DrillTox as it's my favorite set (I would never drop drill here).

Flygon - This was one of the mons I realized has amazing synergy with Lanturn. For electrics to break Lanturn, they need HPGrass. If they have grass, they lose to Flygon. Besides the obvious ice moves, Lanturn amazingly pivots in on the Meteor Mash that Gon is scared of, and Gon pivots in on the EQ targeting Lanturn. They are truly a defensive match made in heaven. The cool thing about Flygon is that you can run Fire Blast and hit Skarm harder and more accurately than Pert with Hydro Pump.

Aero - It's the best pokemon at forcing the opponent to pivot around and take spikes, and the offensive synergy with Tyranitar needs no explanation. I unfortunately felt the need to run Hidden Power Flying (ugh) because I want to pivot around Gengar as little as possible.

Gengar - A thing I learned while trying to make this team, is that if your team isn’t dancing or exploding, you really want a spin blocker to help in the fat matchup. Giga Drain SpDef Gar was chosen here as I want a mon that can come in on Swampert as well. Thunderbolt is the complementary coverage because we need to hit Suicune as hard as possible (I don’t like relying on Lanturn b/c cune means dug in the back). TBolt is also good for the Gar vs Gar matchup. Wisp is a very strong move and in tandem with Taunt+BKCTar gives Blissey a very hard time.

Now, you may be looking at this squad and thinking “This looks a lot like El Classico.” Well we’re in the same boat because I thought the same lol. I wasn’t thinking about classico as I went through the process of building this, but it certainly is interesting how my team ended up very similar (4 flying, dividing special walls). I ended up with this team because I can’t think of another 6 that works for Lanturn.

- Matchups
This team has fine matchups across the board and isn’t insta-lose to any mon that I can think of. Hard stall teams with pursuit might be a little unplayable, but that's what no boom no dd does to you. Claydol and Starmie will require precise outplaying, but that applies for them as well. Opposing Gengar will likely require you to trade into it to weaken them into Aero range.

- Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2668560868
https://psim.us/r/gen3ou-2668571907-3uvommdsthrm8cdvb997ty99ltalmbwpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2668655989
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen3ou-966051

Anyways, this was my first time teambuilding where I had to force an idea to work. If not for this competition, I would have definitely given up early and not learned the lessons that I did, and for that I’m grateful. Also big thanks to SEA for the Lanturn work in the past. It was very helpful. Hope y’all enjoy the team. Bye-bye.

 

[RavenEyeKSR]

Turtle Powered Magneton Balance

---

This is my first time doing one of these but when it came to seeing this challenge I felt intrigued and that the best place to begin experimenting was with the water type rapid spinners of ADV UU:blastoise:and:tentacruel:such an important move was sure to let them have a real niche, initially I was looking at a:dugtrio:stall team with rain dance:tentacruel:to clear the weather and beat most:skarmory: however I found the structures too fragile vs teams with multiple strong physical attackers, at least for my skill level, eventually I instead turned to bulkier:magneton:structures, which I have liked for almost the entire time I have played ADV OU, as:blastoise:is a spinner that can remove the spike left behind after a:magneton:trap, in most cases, while providing a pokemon that just takes a large number of hits well with a different defensive profile from the standard spinner to pair with:magneton:in:claydol:which makes it more conducive to pairing with triple steel:skarmory:,:magneton:, and:metagross:.

---

Salamence @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break
:choice_band: :salamence:is a personal favorite of mine on bulkier:magneton:teams and in my personal opinion almost any good :choice_band: :salamence:team leads with it to immediately start punishing unprepared teams or to scout their answers and begin the fast chipping down of its checks.

Blastoise @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Roar
- Refresh
:blastoise:is a unique spinner compared to those in OU, it lacks the speed and power of:starmie:that makes:gengar:dread blocking the spin and capable of 1v1ing:skarmory:, it lacks the stab psychic and sand immunity of:claydol: that makes it able to beat:gengar:1v1 and able to limit:skarmory: ability to stack spikes, it lacks:forretress:and:cloyster: access to spikes and explosion that make them truly unique in consolidating positive traits, what it has instead is roar and refresh, as a bulky water with roar and refresh:blastoise:becomes a pretty potent check to most physical attackers, mixed attackers, and fire types if it weren't for that pesky sandstorm.

Magneton @ Salac Berry
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 48 HP / 252 SpA / 208 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sunny Day
- Endure
:magneton:even with a :salac_berry: is not really a reliable weather removal option, however on a team where oppurtunites for:tyranitar:to reset the weather are scarce:magneton:can serve as removal for both sand and:skarmory:well enough to support:blastoise:and:blissey:.

Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
:metagross:is a dangerous tank with the ability to trade with explosion and the bulk to take a hit as needed, nothing groundbreaking on this team about this:metagross:it has the speed to outrun uninvested:claydol:and as much hp and attack as possible.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Drill Peck
- Toxic
- Spikes
- Protect
:skarmory:is a very standard set which is free to drop roar to run both drill peck and toxic which generally allows:skarmory:to keep up its own spikes vs most spinners and punish reckless:gengar:switches after revealing toxic.

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Seismic Toss
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled
:blissey:is the special wall of choice alongside:skarmory:and this team is no exception, I chose a wish set to support:blastoise:,:metagross:, and:skarmory:in longer games while having the standard ice beam and seismic toss to fill out the moveset.

 

[DepressionCherry]

:bw/crawdaunt: V5


https://pokepast.es/3f1ab7f7ca155067


I know this team isn't the most original with featured shitmon paired on a v5 structure, but it feels pretty functional and tries to do something unique compared to a traditional v5 squad.

What does crawdaunt do?
Well, besides having the strongest invested knock off in adv ou (a trait we don't actually care about), crawdaunt distinguishes itself from all the other shitmons in the tier with knock off with three traits:

1. Water dark is a unique typing that walls mixed metagross sets (we don't talk about tpunch meta).
2. It has access to crunch and knockoff, and crunch is a good stab move that not many pokemon with recovery wants to switch in, and unlike :rs/armaldo: or :rs/hariyama:, :rs/crawdaunt: has an easier time landing a knock on blissey or rest zapdos.
3. It is the only pokemon that can run endeavor with knock off.

So what of teammates should be paired with crawdaunt to utilize these traits? Impish :rs/skarmory: seems like a pretty obvious pick. Skarmory wants to wall metagross and snorlax and impish skarmory does well vs both of them, but you don't want to fail to wall mixed meta so they can explode your bulky waters at the back. With crawdaunt, mixed meta is handled so impish skarmory has an easier job. Rest :rs/suicune: is another good teammate. With impish skarmory and crawdaunt, suicune does not need to come in on a lot of attacks, and suicune appreciates crawdaunt knocking off blissey and its checks, which opens up the lategame suicune wincon. :rs/dugtrio: pairs well with endeavor and knock off. Crawduant does not have a high hp stat so endeavors from crawdaunt usually puts the opposing pokemon into dug range. Knocking off leftovers also help in that regard.

With that the team is almost complete, we just need a special wall and cleric (blissey) and a spinner (claydol) and we are done! But, before we talk about the actual sets and evs, first we need to look at how the skarmory, crawdaunt and dugtrio combo helps you play vs magneton. By leading skarmory first we encourage the mag user to come in immediately, so the whole interaction will not get complicated in a later game state. Thanks to crawdaunt's typing, you can switch crawdaunt safely t1 vs most lead that suggests a back magneton. If they attack head on crawdaunt is still healthy and now you can use your impish skarmory safely as this implies no magneton. If you do catch a mag switch they should be incentivized to kill crawdaunt as they don't want any of their mons knocked, which enables a dug trap.


:rs/blissey:

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave

This is your standard blissey cleric set. Twave over ice beam because twave is a broken move and it also enables our featured shitmon by giving it an easier time to come in and do stuff.

:rs/claydol:

Claydol @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Atk / 104 SpA / 56 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
- Psychic
- Rest

I made some adjustments to the claydol set because I don't want to lose the mu vs rest zap + dugtrio stall. Rest allows claydol to switch into rest zap and unlike blissey it cannot get dugged. Explosion is unfortunately not droppable because dropping it gives up too much defensively, and boom is also a good move in general. With 96 atk evs explosion ohko most dd mence. Eq less claydol is a bit janky but as ABR would say, if you have dugtrio you can afford to drop eq. That being said, this team definitely wants some help vs :rs/tyranitar:, which is why we have this next set...

:rs/skarmory:

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Roar
- Hidden Power [Steel]
- Rest

I wanted impish skarm on the team as mentioned before, but I went with hp steel instead of drill peck. Switch this into dd tar and hit them once with hp steel and now tar cannot just flinch through you and remain out of dug range. You can also trade against pursuit/mixed tar with this skarmory. If you are afraid of fast pursuit tar you can run a bit more spdef evs. hp steel also helps against aero.

:rs/suicune:

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Rest
- Roar

Not much to say about this as it is pretty standard. All I can say is roar is required to deal with opposing suicune, dd mence and other stuff. I think this team can probably get away with some speed creep on suicune.

:rs/dugtrio:

Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Aerial Ace
- Sunny Day

I prefer jolly dugtrio here as knock off basically helps with the lack of power jolly dugrio has. There should be enough resources on this team to deal with last mon situations (knock off, endeavor and explosion), so screech is dropped for sunny day. And finally...


:rs/crawdaunt:

Crawdaunt @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Def / 176 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
- Crunch
- Knock Off
- Endeavor
- Rest


252 hp and 60 def allows you to always survive non cb meta mash and +1 eq from mash raise. The physical bulk is mainly there to let crawdaunt take hits well from mixed meta mashes. The special investment allows you to live rest zap tbolt from full except for one roll. This could be useful if you want to knock off rest zap for the suicune wincon. The special investment is however mainly to give crawdaunt more entry points. It can come in on weak water moves such as from defmie, suicune and swampert for instance. Speed evs allow you to outspeed most cm blissey and allows you to endeavor blissey down to dug range (in sand or knocked off). Crawdaunt really helps out vs cm bliss as knocked blissey in sand can be handled by your own blissey, and endeavor allows you to trade. The main appeal of this set is how flexible it can be, with endeavor acting as a pseudo explosion button. Crawdaunt's endeavor also gets scarier to switch into as it gets chipped down throughout the game.

Overall this team is good but a little gimmicky, as it does require a fair amount of specific player interactions to work. I hope you enjoyed using it.

 

[SpamOn]

Wanted to keep up my streak of submissions and I think this is a fun team. This round has been super popular and so if the judges want to ignore this as being a late entry or something idm - I kinda feel sorry for them at this point. Thankfully, I won't be giving a long write up cause I also cba.

SpecOff x ParaSpam (Slowking)
​

Basic Idea:
This is a pretty standard Special Offence structure that me and many others will have built before with Slowking in the Water-Type slot.
Slowking brings two key things to the table here:

• Thunder Wave to spread Paralysis​
• Unique Coverage - Fire, Water & Ice is actually great in a world where Registeel teams are everywhere.​

The idea behind this, on top of the usual Spec-Off gameplan with Booms + Dug, is to have a bulky offence with a bunch of slow attackers benefiting from spreading Paralysis. These two approaches can work well together since, against bulkier teams, we can trap their cleric (Bliss/Celebi) to support this.

Set Details:

• 
  : A Fairly Standard bulky Modest Zapdos with ThunderBolt, HP Grass, Thunder Wave and Baton Pass. BP out of Tar and Zap Weak leads to keep momentum. Trade with Metagross/Fighters. T-Wave in the mirror.
• 
  : This is the bulky Dug spread I use on Spec-Off teams with Spin. It traps Bliss and DefRachi with no spikes down, outspeeds +1 Ada DDTar and still has nearly full attack.
• 
  : Slowking has near Max Sp.Atk here and is bulked out with the coverage described above. Speed Crept for Lax and +1 Hera, DD Mence and +2 Agil Meta (when Para'd).
• 
  : Standard Regice set with bulk to live an Aero Rock Slide (in case of emergency). Obligatory special check on the team which synergises well with the Para-spreading and Spec-Off gameplan
• 
  : Metagross is the main Rock Resist and Bliss/Lax check on the team. I went for a bulky 4 atks Metagross here. Would normally be Agil but with all the Para spreading, I thought I could greed both Boom, Slide and have decent Bulk at the cost of speed.
• 
  : Claydol is Brave here with the standard moveset. It is better at beating Gar outside of Sand and is bulked to live a Timid OffMie Pump. Providing a secondary Rock Resist, Exploder and Ground Immune is just so useful.

Conclusion:
This team certainly introduces a slightly different element from standard Spec-Off structure

s due to being able to rob games via Paralysis spam. When playing with it, I was really impressed by how Slowking, Regice and Meta supported one another and were able to pivot and make progress supported by the speed reduction. Here are some sample replays:

• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2677105305?p2
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2677111904?p2
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2677146542?p2
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2677150021-un
• https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2677108135-nu

The main thing I didn't like was that Zapdos often gives the Spec-Off gameplan away early - the games I lost often were due to losing early momentum to Tar or people playing aggressively around getting their pieces trapped. Changing lead Zap to Meta and doubling Zap in on expected switches might work well, especially given we can go Regice vs opposing lead Zap.

 

[Spreek]

Really glad everyone has been enjoying the prompt. If there are any other last minute submissions, please submit before the end of the week!

 

[Spreek]

I want to thank all of the submitters for the great turnout and very interesting teams and ideas. In particular, we are all happy to see the new faces. Please don't be discouraged if I gave you a low rating in one or more categories or identified things that I didn't like. A) I'm just one judge and the others can and likely will see some things differently, B) Teambuilding is hard, and teambuilding with a handicap is even harder, C) Flawed teams are sometimes (but not always) a few changes away from being really good.

Team 1 (Potential 4BL Lapras By Lew)

Team 1 - https://pokepast.es/12e19aca3f0a0f8e (Potential 1800 4BL Lapras) by L3W
Team Synergy & Cohesion: 7/10
Competitive Viability: 5/10
Creativity & Originality: 8/10
Clarity of Explanation: 9/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 4/10

This team, built using a much stronger restriction of 4 BLs, is an interesting take on the new Forre + Donphan nosuit trend. The chosen UU water being Lapras makes a certain amount of sense as Heal bell support on this kind of team is very welcome, along with additional Suicune help. That being said, when two other mons on your team know Heal Bell and the team is not hopelessly weak to Suicune given that it already has a Celebi, it's not obvious to me that Lapras ends up being the best fit. Gyar > Dnite and Blissey > Lapras seems sensible and I even think a fast roarcune of your own along with putting heal bell somewhere else would probably work.

I think most of what Lew writes about it is very accurate. It is a major credit to this team that it has a very strong breaking core and MU vs fat in general with the Focus Punch Dnite (very tough set to handle for the v5 stuff that is popular these days) and curse Regirock. It also does well against physically leaning offense teams that don't get value out of their metagross and lack the right kind of special attackers. But yeah, there's a long list of threats that all seem accurate to me. It feels a bit like a strong anti meta team that counters a lot of the polarized things people spam lately between giga stall and slop.

Anyways, if we are grading on the scale of the world of possible UU water type teams, I think this is not among the very most viable and a bit in a local maxima where it is hard to improve without removing Lapras. The grades would be different among the universe of possible 4 UUBL teams of course (especially post Registeel + Raikou promotions).

Team 2 (PoliwrathForre by GamblingAddict)

Team 2 - https://pokepast.es/e0d2133e9cb1bbcd (Poliwrath Forre) by GamblingAddict
Team Synergy & Cohesion: 6/10
Competitive Viability: 4/10
Creativity & Originality: 6/10
Clarity of Explanation: 6/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 5/10

Quick note: the paste provided has Leftovers on Poliwrath with Thief. For purposes of this analysis I will assume that Poliwrath is meant to have no item.

Poliwrath was one of my favorites on this list so I was happy to see multiple people take stabs at building something with it. There's some nice synergy built into this team which is clearly designed to pressure waters to enable Charizard + spikes. There's strong support for the grounded no recovery core with spin and wish bliss. Thief Poliwrath can enable some additional progress on a team that has some issues making progress vs opposing fat.

So it's a pretty competent core/6 (in fact, rather similar to this team by Fruhdazi https://pokepast.es/cb527ade0888f428, if you imagine the waters vaguely changing places). But I have some quibbles with the specifics.

First, as built, there is a big problem on lead vs Zapdos. There's no good switch besides Bliss, and if you face Zap + Bulky Dug, Blissey can get trapped t1 and you more or less lose from there.

Second, Beat Up Charizard is quite an antisynergy in my view when you have a team with Blissey (already essentially 5 members when it comes to beat up damage) and very weak to status. It will be super easy for Zard to get to the point where it is essentially walled by Blissey. I think comparatively sub punch would make far more sense.

Third, and this perhaps ties into the previous point, but the chosen Tar set (Boah with tbolt) is good against Bliss and mono waters at the expense of its other matchups. But on a team intended to overload the water types and bliss, this likely ends up being too much. We would be better off with a second beneficiary of said overloading rather than "Stop stop he's already dead." I would consider suittar or even possibly ddtar. A Boah with a different 4th move would also be better than tbolt but I suspect it's not needed.

Overall, I think its vaguely decent but didn't quite stick the landing.

Team 3 (Lapras Loom Mixoff by Johnald)

Team 3 - https://pokepast.es/8abd56103f32fe49 (Lapras Loom Mixoff) by Johnald

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 9/10
Competitive Viability: 8/10
Creativity & Originality: 9/10
Clarity of Explanation: 7/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 7/10

So this is an old team but I am going to grade it as if it were new since IIRC Johnald hasn't posted this anywhere before.

Another team with the Zard + Water Absorb combo - in this case opting to skip spikes and also go in more of a spin balance direction. It probably most resembles the Offmie Lax Dol Zard Meta Tar team by Hclat. This team has chosen to compress Lax + Meta into a single Curse Registeel, and add on a stronger breaker in Breloom in the open slot. Lapras slotting in over Starmie helps the team handle status, enable Beat Up Zard, and also provides some extra special bulk and full walling many Suicune sets. Phys Def Ice Beam Claydol also is quite a good fit on this team since Breloom handles Tar, Suittar handles Gar, and thus the team only fears the flying DDers.

I'm never 100% sure what set a curse registeel should use. This one seems sensible but also you will hate being walled by opposing dol flygon etc. Another thing that is noticeable using this team is Zard being the fastest guy and the only setup mon having no recovery besides lefties. It's kinda this awkward spot where you intend to use big hitters to force progress but don't really have speed or cleaners to go along with it.

Anyways, I think this is a really solid team, but whenever I use it I can't shake the feeling that there might be something else even better that is similar.

Team 4 (Wailord Mixoff by Freezingpop)

Team 4 - https://pokepast.es/012d9b6065e7e88e (Wailord Mixoff) by freezingpop87

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 6/10
Competitive Viability: 5/10
Creativity & Originality: 6/10
Clarity of Explanation: 7/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 7/10

Double offwater breaker spam is a team archetype close to my heart, and I think Wailord can certainly fit nicely on certain versions. Wailord's self destruct often lands on water types or blissey, which then enables the other offwater. That being said, I'm not totally sold on Surf Ice Roar Suicune as the other option. Mostly because it is so weak to status, spikes, sand while not doing much to opposing waters. I've always found OffMie or Rest Suicune or SuperCune to be more reliable. The rest of the cast is pretty logical, DDMence is almost required to stop the team from being too grounded, Meta is likely the best rock resist here, and that 4 requires solid zap answers chosen as Celebi and Snorlax. The other 5 besides Wailord are a fairly known 5 that can go with a lot of lasts (Mag or Dol would be the most common).

The post identifies two weaknesses, fat and rockspam, and I tend to agree. CB Meta as the only rock resist on a team with no spikes control is always going to be dicey into ddtar + aero. Obviously two mono waters will help a little, but it's far from reliable. Then when it comes to fat, the team does a good job of overwhelming Blissey, but it is heavily on the clock because spikes will be going up. Another problem is that Claydol walls the cleaner and the rest of the team tends to push claydol out rather than pulling it in.

I would also note one other potential issue. In my view, despite having two Zapdos "checks" in Celebi and Snorlax, neither is well equipped to switch in t1. Cele likely cant break a sub (and then may allow a slow pass to e.g. Dugtrio...) and Snorlax is also vulnerable to subpass guessing games, or the Zapdos bping to skarm, or the Zapdos tbolt crit para, etc. In general, these kind of teams ideally don't send lax in early because you don't want the things that lax brings in coming in (skarm, tar, gar, etc). Different coverage on celebi would help here (I'd probably suggest super), but also I tend to shun lax on these double water teams unless the lead water is equipped to trade with zap t1. Regice or Registeel might be another consideration.

As with a lot of these kind of teams, this stuff can absolutely win games (Double offwater sometimes wins on preview, and its always easier to identify soft spots in these mixoffs when you have full visibility into their sets and plans than opponents will actually have in game), but I do think it is super inconsistent.

Team 5 (poliwrath jolt mence spikes by airports)

Team 5 - https://pokepast.es/8b4ff5eacb4548fd (poliwrath, jolt and mixmence) by airports

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 7/10
Competitive Viability: 6/10
Creativity & Originality: 9/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 7/10

Another cool Poliwrath supporting flying mix attacker team, in this case with MixMence. The Mixmence + Jolt + Wrath core is I know one of airports favorites from past team dumps and there is obviously considerable synergy. Actually I've used it in draft before and it was pretty potent. There's overall a lot of nice synergies here, using double electrics to bring in blobs which let Tar in, using Tar to bring in Waters which then allow Poliwrath entries, using Wish defensive Jolt to keep everyone healthy.

With those positives in mind, I do see several problems. First, the team is slightly ill equipped to handle Gengar given that the status absorber is Rest Poliwrath who is walled. More importantly, opposing DDMence looks incredibly scary. You can bluff coverage on Forre to handle it or hope that you can keep Mence or Zap or Tar at full and avoid a flinch, but that's not a world I like to live in with how common DDMence is. The previous usage of Toxic on Forre and/or PhysDef Zap would've helped a lot, so I think if were using this team I would probably go back to that.

Every time I see one of these pastes, I'm left with the impression that there is something here. But think this one is not quite there yet, although if it dodges the tougher matchups or just clicks really well, it can certainly work.

Team 6 (Azuoffense by RaisedByWolves)

Team 6 - https://pokepast.es/16ef1a3f0e4d4a9a (Azuoffense) by Raised by Wolves

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 5/10
Competitive Viability: 3/10
Creativity & Originality: 4/10
Clarity of Explanation: 5/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 5/10

It's cool to see an Azumarill here, I was glad someone chose to build with it. It is only 10 base Atk less than Medicham, so in theory at least, a Huge Power abuser set could work. Unfortunately, it doesn't get good coverage and obviously no Physical stab in Gen3. It's been used for Belly Drum cheese and for sub focus punch stuff in the past, but Choice Band is sorta interesting. The big advantage that it has over Medicham is obviously being bulkier and having a much better defensive typing.

Putting it on a blue offense style structure makes a certain amount of sense as it is vaguely a fighter (given its lack of good coverage moves). That said, unlike fighters, it is not weak to Skarm's drill peck, so I think you could make the argument that Mag should be dropped. I think if we want to argue it is better than Medi, we almost have to drop either Mag or Suicune to make use of the defensive typing. Pursuit Metagross isn't a bad idea given that Azumarill helps with Tar but hates Gengar and also that we would like to use RestLax here. The trouble is that it is not nearly a good enough pursuiter to justify two mons completely walled by Gengar. I would tempted to run moves that hit gengar on both Azu and Lax here. Otherwise its just too easy for gengar to completely stop you forever.

Team 7 (Jynx Golduck SpecOff by Rainer24)

Team 7 - https://pokepast.es/342760ace6fd2fa6 (Jynx Golduck SpecOff) by Rainer24

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 7/10
Competitive Viability: 6/10
Creativity & Originality: 6/10
Clarity of Explanation: 7/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 6/10

Pretty standardish Jynx spec off, but we have replaced what would typically be an Offcune or Offmie with a Golduck. It's kinda funny using the mon most known for being a weatherclear bot with another mon who does not care about the weather. But I do think there is some logic to it, as Rainer points out, Jynx can lure and trap water types and sometimes blissey, both of which Golduck really does not like to see. The 6 offering a lot of tools to support max speed Dug is another strong point, as the standard Chungus Dug is notoriously weak at breaking anything besides Bliss. Golduck also helps a lot vs Dug and Aero teams relative to Offcune.

With that said, I think there are some major gaps. As mentioned, DDTar (especially t1) and DDMence pretty much whenever in the game is a disaster, and I think the team could've been teched stronger to handle it. I would probably run timid golduck for emergency anti ddmence button (as it stands there is a real risk of dying to +1 fly after a small amt of spikes chip). The Cele and Rachi sets also probably allow more mence entries than we would like. I think a tanky gengar would also be called for, likely Mean Look + Boom with +1 fly bulk. As for lead ddtar, either take the L or you could consider running never melt ice modest. I don't think you really want to be clicking perish t1 then giving up all momentum to go dug.

Team 8 (Walrein JoltSpikes by Astamatitos)

Team 8 - https://pokepast.es/424127a4f9de1797 (Walrein Jolt Spikes) by Astamatitos

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 9/10
Competitive Viability: 8/10
Creativity & Originality: 7/10
Clarity of Explanation: 6/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 8/10

This team is very reminiscent of the various "Hog Cranker" teams by nal, which also feature an offensive water lead (classically OffMilo), mixed focus punch grass fire tar, on Jolt spikes. It's also similar of course to lots of other jolt spikes teams which usually have very similar structures.

Walrein has a lot of nice qualities as Asta laid out, primarily 101 subs and access to the amazing move Encore. It helps shore up some of the struggles JoltSpikes often has vs water types and blobs. Weirdly it can also sometimes pseudo spin block by switching in and encoring a claydol into psychic (or by encoring a starmie into spin which then allows skarm to come back in) The rarely seen Toxic Jolt also feels pretty nice here as it lets you midground blissey entry or stay in / go ground type on roar.

If there's a flaw to this team, it's probably the lack of status absorbers. Compared to standard kerts spikes which has a Nat Cure starmie (and also typically a BKCTar that is much less sad to get twaved than the fast mix tar on this). I think Lum tar could make some sense, as it also allows for a more compelling DDTar bluff when an itemless tar enters on spikes. Maybe there's some world where a refresh pert could work as well, but the existing set is fairly effective.

Team 9 (Omastar Semispikes by WraxiusGaming)

Team 9 - https://pokepast.es/515222db84cb411d (Spikeless Spikes Omastar) by WraxiusGaming

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 7/10
Competitive Viability: 6/10
Creativity & Originality: 9/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 7/10

Using max speed no rain Omastar as a semi-spiker is a unique idea that I'm not sure I've seen before. I think it's pretty cool, especially because 229 is a surprisingly decent speed tier (honestly you might be able to get away with 209, but I understand 229). The rest of the team is a bunch of standard-ish slop or spikes offense mons with a lot of potential to overwhelm teams quickly.

The biggest issue in my view is we are just asking Registeel to do so so much. Especially since idk what our plan t1 vs tar is. Going Omastar is not ideal because if they dance t1 we don't eat +1 ada eq. But switching Registeel in also feels ugly since we need Registeel for so many other things too. But yeah in general I think you can't have spdef registeel as your only rock resist, particularly with a generally fairly quakeslide weak team and also when you need registeel to check zap and waters as well...

I think replacing either Zapdos or Gengar with something with a little bit more physical sturdiness would help. I'm not totally sold that this team actually needs to spin block since in a lot of cases we may not even get spikes. Another idea could be to try to fit something that reliably brings in the slow phys walls that can allow doubles to Omastar (Aero + Omastar might be interesting :thinking)

Overall, this seems like a fun, creative albeit somewhat flawed team.

Team 10 (Entei Kabutops SpikelessOff) by Fruhdazi

Team 10 - https://pokepast.es/36e3f068d321b12d (Entei Kabutops Spikeless) by Shitrock enjoyer

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 6/10
Competitive Viability: 5/10
Creativity & Originality: 9/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 6/10

Cool looking team and one I was excited to try out when I saw it. The idea of using a bunch of surprising mix attackers and water pressures to enable a Kabutops endgame (or Entei endgame) is promising on paper. Entei in general can be a strong engine of certain kinds of offenses because he typically beats blissey and thus reliably brings water types in to be chipped.

Unfortunately, while the team is well teched to try to make up for having a fairly suspicious 6, I don't think it was fully able to overcome it. In particular being so grounded and having the only EQ lock punish being a fairly easy to wall Aero set always felt very rough.

TBH I kinda feel like Kabutops himself is the issue, if it was a better mon that floats last, the first 5 have a lot of cool synergies. In the words of the original "- Kabu probably is bad." And while Kabutops certainly LIKES water types overloaded, it's not obvious to me that it needs the level of water overloading that the rest of the team is providing. It might also want better status help, since opp can feel relatively safe clicking status moves into this.

Team 11 (Lanturn Spikes by 3nvention)

Team 11 - https://pokepast.es/e62fc6c74322c5bb (Lunatic Lanturn Spikes) by 3NVENTION

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 7/10
Competitive Viability: 7/10
Creativity & Originality: 6/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 6/10

Lanturn and 4x weak to ice flyers are a typical combination (Kollin previously had a Zard Lanturn Flygon team, Hclat has done Mixmence Lanturn as well as Jumpluff Lanturn), since they have quite good type synergy. I think analogy made in the post to being a weird sort of Classico where Pert + Zap are swapped for Lanturn + Flygon makes some sense. It also resembles a bit some Aero superman teams that typically would have Jirachi or Blissey in place of Lanturn.

Anyways, Lanturn makes a good amount of sense here and does some different things than those other versions. Although it would be hard for me to say it is necessarily better. Most of the techs make sense with the 6, although I have my doubts about Flygon without protect when its essentially the entire physical backbone. I might also consider putting toxic on lanturn over ice beam, pressuring bliss a bit more could be helpful.

Overall, the team is very workable if a bit boring.

Team 12 (Blastoise SkarmMag by RavenEyeKSR)

Team 12 - https://pokepast.es/dda1bbb9c651a7bd (Blastoise SkarmMag) by RavenEyeKSR

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 8/10
Competitive Viability: 7/10
Creativity & Originality: 7/10
Clarity of Explanation: 7/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 7/10

A new twist on a classic MagDol sort of structure. It can kinda be seen as compressing Dol + Cune into a single Blastoise which then enables you to actually run a Skarmory (or something entirely different). Losing the wincon of boldcune in the late game and the generally more reliable spinning in Claydol is painful of course, but it's hard to argue with a bonus skarmory.

The techs mostly make sense although I think perhaps I would have considered a tankier mag with lefties rather than trying to go salac on such a slow team. Wish Bliss is a good shout to support CBMence.

Overall, nothing groundbreaking but cool idea and probably fairly solid as least as far as CBMence Mag teams go in 2026.

Team 13 (Crawdaunt v5 by DepressionCherry)

Team 13 - https://pokepast.es/3f1ab7f7ca155067 (Crawdaunt v5) by DepressionCherry

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 7/10
Competitive Viability: 5/10
Creativity & Originality: 7/10
Clarity of Explanation: 9/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 5/10

It's funny to use the 120 base attack Hoenn special mon with a almost full utility set, but anything with Knock Off is vaguely viable in ADV. And Crawdaunt is certainly effective at dying to set up Dug. The vision of using it sacrificially t1 to scout for a Mag also is pretty smart.

That said I have doubts that this can outperform Kingler or other Knock users on this kind of structure. It's really a shame they didn't give Crawdaunt pursuit. Concretely, it feels like it doesn't help very much vs Gar or Aero (it does help a bit with Lax) and this kind of team with lead skarm is steering very hard vs ZapDug. I'm sure like it can work because the other 5 are very good and Crawdaunt does sorta fit in.

Team 14 (Slowking Paraspam SpecOff by SpamOn)

Team 14 - https://pokepast.es/f9b2858c0ce53ad3 (Slowking Paraspam Specoff) by SpamOn

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 8/10
Competitive Viability: 7/10
Creativity & Originality: 6/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 7/10

It's tough to go too wrong with ZapDug 3 Booms + Water type. The ParaSpam overlay provides some decent justification to throw on a SlowTwin. I'm not totally sure that Slowking is better than his brother in this case (although Slowbro was not allowed for this contest being in UUBL). Like you can see the argument that the special bulk is useful, but with already having a Regice and a HP invested Zap, it's not obvious that it's more useful than the additional physical bulk.

I do definitely see an argument for a Slowtwin over Suicune or Starmie, seeing as it combines much of the bulk of Suicune with the better coverage and utility of Starmie and the speed situation can be alleviated by spreading para everywhere.

I don't have a ton to say about the rest of the team, although I think I agree with the suggestion to put Meta lead over Zap to disguise the team a bit more.

 

[FJ2K]

ADV OU Teambuilding Competition Round 7: Water types ranked UU or below

Hi all,

This post has taken a fuckton of time over the past 2 days so I hope you appreciate it :) I have given a strong preference to teams who present novel solutions to problems that archetypes typically suffer from. I'm not really a fan of using worse versions of existing teams. It's much more in the spirit of the competition to really try gain the maximum value out of the niche each Mon has. If your team has a low rating, it's very likely due to the worse version of existing team flaw. A low rating does not mean you are a bad player or that you're stupid so please don't be disheartened. If your team is highly rated, you are undoubtedly intelligent, handsome and life will bless you with many good fortunes.

Lew

:Lapras:
4 BL Balance
https://pokepast.es/12e19aca3f0a0f8e

The team revolves around using a double Spinner core to sustain a balance structure with solid bulk and serviceable firepower. Using the combination of Celebi and Lapras to suppress Suicune and Swampert is a nice idea, allowing the other 4 mons on the team to not stress as much about getting foddered and selling the game. Dragonite and Regirock carrying Boosting + Focus Punch is a nice touch as these mons can reliably lure in Skarmory. Both Forretress and Donphan having HP Ghost to combat Gengar is a good choice. Realistically for this team to stand a chance vs Gar in the absence of Pursuit support, every Mon needs to exert pressure vs it.

Lew has done a very good job of analysing the weaknesses of the team already.

- Special attackers with good coverage are frightening ( Starmie, Gengar, HP Grass Suicune, Jirachi, Raikou)
- Moltres, Zard and MixMence are very scary for this team. Moltres with Wisp has no answers on this team. Regirock can act as a short term check to Mence and Zard , but it wont be able to maintain this role for a long sustained attack from the opponent.
- The damage output into Skarmory is too low, with Celebi, Forretress and Donphan doing negligible damage and Lapras doing low damage due to no investment. Lapras is perhaps the best candidate for greater offensive investment. Lapras can still do its role well without significant defensive investment.
- No Speed control. Something like a Swords Dance Heracross can very well go through the entire team after small chip on Regirock, Dragonite and Donphan has been inflicted.

Conclusion: Lew has increased the difficulty of the challenge by wielding 4 non-OU Pokémon, and has done a good job of utilising the niches provided by these Mons to bring value to the team. However the Mons aren't OU for a reason, and the end product is a team that falls short on both the offensive and defensive fronts.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 6/10
Competitive Viability: 5/10
Creativity & Originality: 8/10
Clarity of Explanation: 10/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 4/10

Gambling Addict

:Poliwrath:
Poliwrath Zard Offense
https://pokepast.es/e0d2133e9cb1bbcd

Cool idea to use Poliwrath on a Forretress build. Forre builds can often struggle with opposing water types. Poliwrath can switch into water types without too much worry most of the time, and then make plays from there . Hypnosis is a powerful tool, especially when paired with Focus Punch. Using Charizard to utilise Poliwrath's niche is a great choice. Charizard dislikes Starmie and Milotic quite a lot, so there's synergy by having Poliwrath alongside it. Charizard is also good at luring in Salamence on offense teams, allowing it to get significant chip , which Poliwrath appreciates. At the same time Poliwrath can also dent Salamence (though the damage is much lower) to aid Charizard. Poliwrath also has the ability to check Rest Snorlax well, who can pose quite a threat into Forretress teams.

BoahTar is fun. I'm not sure how much I'm a fan of dropping Pursuit Tyranitar on Forretress builds , as I believe Forretress REALLY appreciates the support + Pursuit TTar is a beast in its own right. I think Boah needs to be Thunder here, otherwise you're probably going to not break Milotic or Suicune, kinda rendering the moveset redundant if we're losing to these Mons.

Swampert set is cool , Rock Slide gives you a good way to hurt Rest Zapdos. Blissey I'd just run Modest. The extra damage vs Zap and Mence is enough reason to run it. I cant really think of any reason to run Bold + 252 SpA. If you really want a physically tanky Blissey, use MonoBliss and change Tyranitar to Pursuit.

Poliwrath. I'm not sure this is the optimal set. Though I'll be honest in saying I dont know what the optimal set is. I think something like Sub Hypnosis + Focus Punch + Hydro Pump / Surf would be pretty cool. Gives you a way to fully utilise the immunity to Water. Starmie thinks it can switch into a Focus Punch? You Substitute, they won't have a way to touch you, making way for Poliwrath to spam Hypnosis. Milotic wont switchin in the same fashion as Starmie, but a double from Zard into Poliwrath can put you in a very nice position; Substitute into Hypnosis spam, followed with Focus Punches is great. Suicune.. self explanatory. In matchups where you face Rest Zapdos, the combination of Charizard + Poliwrath + BoahTar can exert great pressure to make life difficult for the Zap player.

I do see the value in Thief. But I think I'd personally rather just go all in on goobing fat water types on fat teams , as opposed to going for a more general approach of using Thief to permanently weaken an opposing check. I'd also move it from the lead slot, being good into TTar but weak into like every other lead isn't really worth it.

Overall, I really like how the offensive pieces on this team work together to break Mons this archetype typically has difficulty with.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 8/10
Competitive Viability: 7.5/10
Creativity & Originality:8/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 8/10

Airports

:Poliwrath:
Poliwrath Double Electric TSS
https://pokepast.es/8b4ff5eacb4548fd
Double electric Forre gaming is an interesting idea. No traditional rock resist, opting for Poliwrath as the sole resist is a very brave choice. As I mentioned for Gambling Addicts team, using Poliwrath to support Forre teams vs Water types is a great idea.

Unfortunately, I'm struggling to see the offensive selling point of the team. The team seriously lacks firepower, and there is no set-up to bolster its power. It doesnt seem like the Mons break for each other particularly well either. Double Electric paired with a Fighting Mon sounds like a great idea, but one that would be much better served with a fighting type that isn't Poliwrath. It's immunity to Water seems a lot less impactful when the team has invested hard into having 2 of the tier's best Water killers.

Notable flaws in the team:

- BKC TTar is scary for the team, with Forretress being the best check (which is not ideal).
- With no access to Speed boosting moves on the team + Jolt not running Max speed, Aerodactly looks to be a nightmare for this team.
- Mono Fighting Poliwrath with no Suit support + Bug Forretress + Naive Salamence + 0 SpA invest Zapdos + non invested Jolteon, this team is cheating way too hard on Gengar imo.
- Charizard and Salamence (both MixMence and DD sets) are scary into this team.

Ultimately, the team falls flat on the offensive front whilst not possessing the defensive solidarity needed to justify the flaw.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 5/10
Competitive Viability: 4/10
Creativity & Originality:7/10
Clarity of Explanation: 5/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 5/10

Raised by Wolves

:Azumarill:
Pikablu Offense
https://pokepast.es/16ef1a3f0e4d4a9a

As said by the man himself, this is a Blue Offense-esque team with an Azumarill in the fighter slot. The team needs HP Ghost on Azumarill to hit Gengar. Mag teams are already weak to Gar generally, we really can't have a Mon completely unable to touch Gengar on the team. Pursuit Metagross is not enough to justify Azumarill blanking into Gar. With Skarmory / Forretress removed, you could use Azumarill in a Slaking-esque fashion to try claim a life every entry you get because it does have a monstrous attack stat.

Ultimately this team is a downgrade from standard Blue offense style teams, due to Azumarill having no potential to sweep unlike Heracross who is typically seen on these teams. If you choose to go the route of using an unwallable Banded attacker, Slaking would fill the role better.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 5/10
Competitive Viability: 4/10
Creativity & Originality:3/10
Clarity of Explanation: 4/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 5/10

Astamatitos

:Walrein:
Walrein Jolt Spikes
https://pokepast.es/424127a4f9de1797

Walrein has a cool niche of being able to sub with 101 HP Subs and having access to Encore, allowing it to pressure Blissey and Registeel in a rather unique way.

Though I'm not entirely convinced by the team Walrein has found itself on. Walrein has the tools to harass fat mons and maintain momentum vs fat in a rather unorthodox way; yet its offensive prowess still leaves much to be desired. Modest 95 SpA deals some good damage but Water Ice coverage is only going to get you so far. Starmie usually finds itself on these kind of builds, and can pressure the same Mons when Spikes are up, whilst also having the benefit of Rapid Spin, Natural Cure and fantastic speed. Overall, I don't see much reason to use Walrein Jolteon spikes over traditional Jolteon offense squads

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 6.5/10
Competitive Viability: 5/10
Creativity & Originality: 6/10
Clarity of Explanation: 5/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 5/10

WraxiusGaming

:Omastar:
Omastar Hyper Offense
https://pokepast.es/515222db84cb411d

Cool Slop adjacent team. Using Omastar as an offensive spiker is a cool idea, 115 SpA Hydro Pumps will hit like a truck vs most mons in the tier. It has the offensive power needed to force switches and can Spike in those situations freely. Omastar matches up well into the other spikers of the tier, potentially 2HKOing all of them; which is great for limiting spikes from the opponent as well as putting the opposing spiker into range for Omastar's teammates to kill. Unlike Glalie and Cloyster, Omastar can threaten to OHKO Tyranitar, a valuable trick to have up its sleeve because DD Tyranitar can be very threatening into hyper offensive teams. Lowkey Highkey Omastar is more tuff than the bumass Clam.

Tyranitar + Gengar is naturally a good pair for an offensive Spikes setter as you'll want to keep the Spikes on the field + Sand to help the damage stick.

I think Light Screen Zapdos is not neccessary. Registeel is already a pretty hefty Special check, and you have Salamence and Gengar to offensively check the main offensive special threats in the tier. Yes, Raikou goobs Gengar and Salamence but I don't think Light Screen will change that really. I think HP Fight MixZap would be cooler; it would give the team another Mon to pressure Blissey and Celebi + a way to seriously dent Tyranitar so everything else can check it.

Overall, this team does a great job of stacking offensive threats alongside an all out offensive Spiker in a way that meshes nicely.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 8/10
Competitive Viability: 7.5/10
Creativity & Originality:8/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 8/10

Johnald

:Lapras:
Lapras Offense
https://pokepast.es/8abd56103f32fe49

This mixed offense team is very neatly put together, with the Mons supporting each other nicely. Mach Punch + Pursuit TTar is a classic combo to reverse trap the eternally annoying Dugtrio. Charizard is able to throw off attacks freely knowing there's a Registeel and Lapras to absorb any pressure exerted by Water types that show their face. Lapras is able to pack a punch with its heavy investment in SpA and great coverage, allowing it to exert good pressure vs opposing Offensive teams. Heal Bell gives the team longevity, which Tyranitar and Claydol will especially appreciate as they are likely to be inflicted with Status from Gengar and Zapdos often. Charizard also benefits from the Heal Bell as it can help Beat Up reach its max power. An unorthodox Registeel set gives a unique path to making progress, and acts as a strangely reliable way to target Skarmory. And lastly, Claydol is present to remove Spikes, provide an Electric immunity and be a solid Rock Resist. These traits allow Claydol to lessen Registeel's defensive duties , allowing for Registeel to act offensively more freely.

The team does a very good job of spreading defensive responsibilities across the 6 mons, without ceding offensive pressure to achieve it.

I have a few nitpicks with this team:

- Having Charizard as the fastest Mon is underwhelming. A mon like Endpert can wreak serious havoc into this squad since there's nothing to outspeed it. Even without Salac, 4 of the Mons are outsped by Endpert.
- Swampert in general is quite painful for this team, there's no real switchin or answer. There is potential to outplay on the team, kill it before it kills you type shi , but yeah something to be wary of.
- Perhaps my biggest gripe, I feel like this team is just better with Recover Offmie! (I'm aware you've already made this build with it lol) . Heal Bell on Lapras is deffo a cool touch, allowing for Tyranitar and even Claydol to fight Mons like Gengar and Defensive Jirachi without having to fret much about being inflicted with status , knowing that there's a cleric in the back. But the offensive prowess , speed and the access to recovery that Starmie has outclasses the cleric duty that Lapras fills.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 9/10
Competitive Viability: 7/10
Creativity & Originality:9/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 7/10

Rainer

:Golduck:
Get Ducked
https://pokepast.es/342760ace6fd2fa6

This team is rolling the clock back to 2023! A more traditional Specoff team , using Suicide lead Jynx(perhaps the best approach to Specoff). Using Salac Golduck to reverse games vs Aero Spikes offense teams is heat. Boom Gar is always a great choice on these teams due to being a special attacker which Blissey has to be cautious around. Jirachi is a natural choice because it gives the team a Rock resist. Leech Cele to give the team a way not to falter completely into Lax is a good touch, and the coverage is good to hit TTar and Skarm like you've mentioned.

Unfortunately, this team still possesses most of Specoffs greatest flaws, and for several of them even exarcebates the issue. With Golduck in a slot where you may typically expect to see Suicune , you make the team even weaker into Agility Metagross, DD Salamence and the Fire birds.

Despite the flaws, I like the idea, I think you've made reasonable choices to support the Golduck wincon and addressed some of Specoff's key weaknesses in your choice of teammates and move selection.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 7/10
Competitive Viability: 6/10
Creativity & Originality:8/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 5/10

FreezingPop

:Wailord:
Bananas and Blow
https://pokepast.es/012d9b6065e7e88e

Wailord has access to Water Spout and Self Destruct, allowing it to be a threatening Mon to virtually any team. However, Wailord needs its HP high in order for Water Spout to be dangerous, so has to be utilised early in the game. So Freezingpop's decision to put Wailord in the lead slot is smart and I believe the optimal way to use the whale.

When facing offense teams without a special wall ( common on Aerodactyl and Jolteon offenses), Wailord could do a great job at forcing in Skarmory, dealing massive damage to open up Salamence , Metagross and Snorlax. The same idea applies to Cloyster, whose health being chipped will make it easier for Suicune , Snorlax and Salamence to kill it, and not have to fear being boomed due to only being able to 2HKO when boosted.

Wailord can also target the opposing Special wall or bulky Water with Self Destruct to open up the game for Suicune/Celebi/ Metagross/Mence.

Lastly, Wailord can utilise its ability Water Veil, which provides immunity to Burn, to act as a free switch into Will-o-Wisp, which the team could really appreciate. Unfortunately Wailord will not live past the opening of the game often, so this trait will likely rarely be utilised.

The team has several flaws:

- The team is very weak to Spikes, and has only a single Mon that can break Skarmory with speed (Wailord). If Wailord's life is spent trading with another Mon, Skarmory will very likely get 3 spikes up, which is very unpleasant for the 4 remaining grounded Mons on the team. This comes as a natural consequence of dropping Magneton from this style of team.
- The sole Rock resist doesn't have leftovers, making facing Rock Spam a difficult task.
- Gengar is very threatening, an issue exacerbated by Suicune not being bulked up to the max and Celebi lacking coverage to hit Gengar hard.
- HP Ice Zapdos threatens to slaughter the whole team. The sole switchin to HP Ice Zapdos is worn down by Spikes and Sand.

Overall, I like the idea of using Wailord to get early momentum. It can do a good job of baiting a key defensive piece and trading with it, to open up the game for one of Wailord's teammates. I think the flaws on this team actually don't lie with Wailord, but the remaining 5 slots. At a minimum, Celebi has got to be able to hit Gengar. Having Psychic coverage would also give the team another tool to hurt Zapdos. Perhaps worth considering having another Mon in the Celebi slot, something like Heracross/Breloom or another Swampert switchin. Starmie in the Suicune slot could be good to remove Spikes potentially, and you could strap it with Psychic allowing you to snipe unsuspecting Gengars. Triple Boom Spam + Spin + DD Mence is a decent strat that has been seen over the years. I'd say embracing this angle would help you maximise its potential.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 6/10
Competitive Viability: 6/10
Creativity & Originality 7/10
Clarity of Explanation: 7/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 6/10

DepressionCherry

:Crawdaunt:
Crawdaunt V5
https://pokepast.es/3f1ab7f7ca155067

When it comes to v5, you ideally want your 6th to do one of 3 things:
- help vs Snorlax
- Be a rock resist
- help vs Zapdos

Crawdaunt does none of these things. Though Knock Off is a useful tool in a war of attrition, which Virgin5 generally aims to play, the benefit of Knock Off is completely overshadowed by the fact that Crawdaunt's teammates will have to absorb the defensive responsibilities that a 6th mon would usually provide. Endeavor is a cool tool that can be used by a Mon to trade vs Mons that typically expect to check it but V5 isn't a team that will actively want to trade down. Having Mons alive to potentially eat Booms directed at key targets or to rack up additional indirect damage on the opponent with a crafty switch or even just having a mon to spike sack to enable a Dugtrio trap are all ideas that are much more preferable to trading with a random Mon of the opposing player's liking. Realistically, I don't ever see a reason to run Crawduant as a 6th on Virgin5.

I think Aggron would be a much cooler shitmon to take this angle with, since it can help vs Snorlax, is a Rock resist, and it has Endeavour to satisfy the zoomer itch.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 3/10
Competitive Viability: 3/10
Creativity & Originality:3/10
Clarity of Explanation: 7/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 3/10

3nvention

:Lanturn:
Lunatic Lanturn
https://pokepast.es/e62fc6c74322c5bb

Lanturn is a cool mon, being one of the few mons who can shrug at opposing Bolt Beam Mons, and threaten them with great coverage of its own. TTar Skarm Gar Aero is a classic offensive core, in which the Mons work together to break down the checks they have in common. A downside of this offensive core is that the team can find itself struggling to switch around when facing Zapdos / Jolteon / offensive water types. Pairing Lanturn with Aerodactyl, TTar and Flygon is a clever choice to utilise Lanturn's typing and ability to get momentum from those positions where you're forced out by the opposing electric and water threats.

There are some changes that I think need to be implemented to make the offense flow better:

Since Gengar can't hurt Celebi meaningfully with its current set, Aero needs to carry HP Bug, or else the overall pressure on Celebi may not be enough. Or perhaps Gar should have Fire Grass coverage so that Aerodactyl can keep HP Fly.

The team doesn't like to switch around all that much, so we want Lanturn to pressure Blissey somehow to ensure Lanturn can get value when it does manage an entry. I think having Toxic as one of Lanturn's moves would be good. Something like Substitute + Hydro Pump + Thunderbolt + Toxic?

Overall the team is essentially a variation of Classico. Swap Zapdos out for a grounded electric, and to compensate for that new spike weakness, Swampert is changed to Flygon to bring the team back to its Superman roots. This team can probably put up a better fight vs Jolt spikes teams than standard Classico can.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 8/10
Competitive Viability: 7/10
Creativity & Originality:8/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 6/10

RavenEyeSKR

:Blastoise:
Turtle Powered Magneton Balance
https://pokepast.es/dda1bbb9c651a7bd

This is a standard BandMence team with Blastoise in the slot Claydol would typically fill.
Blastoise does have some traits above other spinners:
- Blastoise can't be trapped by Pursuit Tyranitar like Claydol and Starmie can.
- Blastoise doesn't have a weakness to Bug like Claydol and Starmie, so doesn't have to fear Choice Band / Dragon Dance HP Bug Tyranitar.
- Blastoise can't be trapped by Magneton like Forretress can.
- Blastoise's bulk is better than Starmie's on both sides of the split.
- Blastoise can threaten to kill Aerodactly and Salamence without having to resort to pulling the trigger on Explosion like Claydol.

So there is some merit to putting Blastoise in the team ahead of other spinners.

Blastoise gives the team an additional check to Metagross and Tyranitar, which is nice to relieve some pressure off Band Salamence and Blissey who may invite these threatsnin. Blissey's Wish passing can help sustain it in this role. Blastoise can also function as a nice switchin to Swampert, regardless of what set its running. It is by no means a permanent check however, as it loses to Curse sets in endgames and will be withered down by attacks if Wish support cannot comes to its rescue.

However , I don't understand the moveset choice here. When I think of scenarios where Blastoise could use Refresh, I imagine vs Skarmory or Defensive Jirachi or Milotic or Blissey. It certainly won't be fighting vs the tier's offensive status spreaders like Zapdos and Gengar. But here's the issue. Our Blastoise can't do anything to damage Jirachi , Milotic , or Blissey. Skarmory? We have a Magneton anyway.

I think if there is value to be found in Blastoise as a spinner, it's probably going to be utilising its unique movepool which features moves like Yawn and Focus Punch.

These kind of teams typically struggle with Gengar; find Zapdos painful to handle ; and are overwhelmed by a lot of offenses. Blastoise doesn't address the flaws this archetype has. If a spinner with water typing and the ability to shrug off Status is needed, Starmie is better since Starmie doesn't need to click a move to cure itself. Starmie is also a lot faster, has better SpA and has access to Recover.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 5/10
Competitive Viability: 5/10
Creativity & Originality:5/10
Clarity of Explanation: 5/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 4/10

Fruhdazi

:Kabutops:
Kabutops Gaming
https://pokepast.es/36e3f068d321b12d

Very unusual team. Kabutops is nicely supported by the sets it's teammates are running, with a clear focus on denting opposing Steel, Ground and bulky Water types.
Aerodactyl running a Special invested set to pave the way for Kabutops to sweep is really cool because it can very reliably lure in the Mons Kabutops wants chipped/dead. Entei is a cool way to combat the offensive fire types of the tier who are very threatening into this team. Entei can also act as a short term Gengar check early in the game with a bit of finesse.

Fruhdazi did a pretty good job of assessing the team's shortcomings.

Flygon is a massive pain for the team as Fruhdazi mentioned. Registeel has to handle the brunt of the Suicune matchup, so if Registeel dies, then the team is probably gonna suffer. Salamence is frightening for this team, especially because Swampert has no bulk investment and a strange set. Mons like Super Jirachi and Super Celebi can win quite quickly the moment there's any significant chip inflicted on Registeel.

Ultimately, this team is an ambitious fish into players that may over rely on Swampert and Metagross in the builder, leaving them prone to being lured in to get smoked by these fun sets. That being said, the team is very defensively frail and likely has far more bad matchups than good ones.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 6/10
Competitive Viability: 5/10
Creativity & Originality:8/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 3/10

Spamon

:Slowking:
Specoff x ParaSpam
https://pokepast.es/f9b2858c0ce53ad3

Specoff with Boom Spam to exert pressure is a nice concept. The team has a nice mesh of offensive prowess and defensive integrity.

However...

- The team lacks a Mon abuse the removal of Blissey to the fullest extent. Slowking has nice coverage and Thunder Wave is always good, but ultimately I feel there's bound to more potent choices in this slot. For example, Kingdra also hits hard, but has the additional benefit of being able to double its Speed and power up its Water attacks in the rain. These traits allow Kingdra to go crazy vs Aero offense matchups, which Specoff typically struggles with (this team included!)

- Snorlax is very scary for this team. Only Metagross meaningfully threatens it. Regice and Claydol's booms are both useful deterrents for a +0 Snorlax but will bounce off Snorlax at +1. The team also doesn't have sand, further laying up Snorlax to wreak havoc with a single Curse.

- We have 2 Mons who cant touch Skarmory ( Dol and Dug) and Meta whos damage is low enough such that Skarm can easily get 3 layers up in its face consistenly. It can spike freely on these mons, as well as throw off Toxics on expected switches , which the Mons on this team really don't like. I believe this to be a serious flaw for a Specoff team. Every member apart from Dug should ideally pressure Skarm heavily on specoff builds, in order to limit the Spikes it can set so that the Dug trap on Blissey can occur. HClat has his rule about ZapDug needing Claydol, but I feel that was just his way of saying SpecOff is ahh. I'd probably change the Dol to something else on this team to improve it in this aspect.

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 7/10
Competitive Viability: 6/10
Creativity & Originality:7/10
Clarity of Explanation: 8/10
Adaptability & Flexibility: 6/10

Results

 

[Johnald]

Who is the last chudge?

 

[FJ2K]

Who is the last chudge?

Click to collapse...

 

[Johnald]

Classic

 

[Spreek]

Due to force majeure, we have decided to finish the round with just the two judges this time, sorry to everyone for the wait.

Final results:

Congrats to Johnald for another win and thanks again to all submitters. Stay tuned for the next edition!