Resource ADV Draft Comprehensive Guide

[Texas Cloverleaf]

ADV Draft Guide by Texas Cloverleaf and co.

​

Credits​

Author: Seeker / Texas Cloverleaf
Contributors: WraxiusGaming, Scraf, Volta, Nal, DJGravity
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Table of Contents

ADV Draft Overview​

ADV Draft​

Welcome to ADV Draft! A twist on the Standard OU formats, Draft imposes a degree of limitation on the teambuilding options available to both players in the form of a Pokémon pick selection draft. Whether you are new to this format or an experienced veteran, this guide is intended to provide you with all the information you need to succeed. You will find within a brief history of the format, an overview of what to expect when playing in a tournament, a summary of all the Pokémon available and the roles they can perform in the metagame, an extensive discussion on how to approach the drafting process and the associated strategic considerations therein, and a top to bottom teambuilding exercise examining how the author approaches a matchup and uses the available information to build a strategically targeted team. A glossary of terms is included at the end of this document to explain the jargon you may encounter along the way. I fervently hope that you find this guide educational and enjoyable to read as you grow in your journey within the ADV draft environment.

History​

The history of ADV Draft is a relatively recent one despite Pokémon Emerald’s 2005 release date. The early days consisted of small personal leagues that were splintered from the current generation’s Draft infrastructure prior to the Emerald Open, ADV Draft’s flagship tournament, running its first iteration in 2020. Emerald Open has run annually since increasing in playerbase from modest beginnings to a then-record 360 participants in Emerald Open V.

The success of this tournament, alongside a general buzz around ADV OU due to ADV-centric YouTubers such as Jimothy Cool and LRXC gaining popularity, led to multiple popular tournament series popping up in 2024 such as the Zinc-Tratufo Draft League and Volta’s Vraft Voltournament. Emerald Open IV onward constitutes the “Modern Era” of ADV Draft, where players collectively had a greater understanding of the format’s constraints and battling process. It was at this point that the format also began to diverge from ADV OU, recognizing and prioritizing different threats and creating separate viability rankings.

In 2025, the format ran its first tournament circuit that consisted of four tournaments, each drawing at least 128 participants that culminated within an invitational tournament called the 2025 Hoenn Draft Invitational. This circuit, at the time of writing, is currently in its second iteration and the ADV Draft environment continues to grow both in size and in understanding of the format.

Tournament Structure / What To Expect​

The typical Major (128+ players) ADV Draft tournament consists of three main phases: the Draft Phase where you gather your team to use throughout the tournament, the Battle Phase where you face off against other players, and the Redraft Phase where the top 16 players remaining draft new teams and use them for the remainder of the tournament. Smaller tournaments typically forgo the redraft phase due to a fewer number of eliminations required to trim their player base down to sixteen.

Draft Phase​

After the signup period for a tournament concludes, the Draft Phase begins right away. Players are placed into pools of 8 which are loosely sorted by timezone and given a slot in the draft, first through eighth. Each pool within a tournament has its own draft board, a listing of Pokémon and their costs, from which players can select their teams. Players receive a budget for this draft, typically 90 points, and cannot exceed this spending threshold. Costs of Pokémon range from 19 points to 1 point, with their relative value being explained in later sections of this document. Generally, stronger and more versatile Pokémon cost more points to draft. In most tournaments, players must draft exactly 8 Pokémon, but it is not obligatory to spend all 90 points. There is no reward for saving points.

The draft starts with the first pick and almost always follows a “snake-style” draft where odd-numbered rounds of drafting move from the first pick through to the eighth pick and even-numbered rounds of drafting move from the eighth pick to the first pick. This is to prevent earlier draft positions from having a large advantage by being able to draft the 1st and 9th best Pokémon on the board, for example. Each player has a timer that starts when their turn to pick comes up, typically between 4 and 8 hours, in which they can deliberate their pick. Once a pick is chosen, it becomes unavailable to other players and the draft moves to the next selection. This process repeats until all players have teams of 8 Pokémon.

Once all draft pools in a tournament have finished and all players have their teams, the tournament moves to the Battle Phase. The Draft Phase typically takes one week to complete.

Battle Phase​

The Battle Phase of a tournament will likely work under one of two formats: a pools stage that filters into a single-elimination bracket, or a Swiss-style structure. Both work to trim a field of players down to the Top 16, which move on to the Redraft Phase of the tournament. Both formats guarantee a player will be able to battle at least three times with their team. Each round of battles within the Battle Phase take one week to complete with the exception of the pools stage, which takes two weeks.

For the first format, involving Pools and Bracket, players are placed within battle pools of 4-5 people and fight each of their opponents once. Players with 2 or more wins advance to the bracket stage, while players with 1 or fewer wins are eliminated. The bracket stage is a single-elimination bracket, where players are paired and the winner moves on in a Best of 1. In the case that an uneven number of participants advance to the bracket, some players may be awarded byes based on performance in the pools stage.

The second format, Swiss, randomly pairs players with matching records to fight. Once a player reaches 3 losses, they are eliminated from the tournament. For example, if two players fight in the first round of a Swiss tournament, the loser will fight a different 0-1 player in the second round while the winner fights a different 1-0 player. This process repeats until 16 players remain. Depending on the number of signups, players may be awarded bye weeks based on Swiss performance.

Redraft Phase​

Once the top 16 players are determined, they are placed within two draft pools and draft a new team in an identical process to the Draft Phase. This is done to prevent abnormally strong drafts, caused by weak draft pools, from coasting to tournament wins. There are two types of redrafts: blind, where player positions aren’t revealed and matchups are known based on seed from earlier tournament performance, and open where player positions are known and matchups are randomly determined after the drafting ends.

The players’ new teams are what they will use for the remainder of the tournament, which becomes a double-elimination bracket. In the event of rematches, players use their original teams from the Draft phase. In order to keep pace with the upper bracket, players within the end stages of the lower bracket will play two matches a week (typically due on Thursday and Sunday night). The Redraft Phase of a tournament typically takes six weeks to complete, with extra time sometimes allotted for the draft itself.

The Pokémon of ADV Draft​

Let’s talk about Pokémon.

One of the things that makes Draft unique compared to Standard competitive format is the closed nature of information available to both players. Unlike in Standard where each player must navigate the waters of the unknown, preparing a team adaptable enough to take on all comers, in Draft a player knows exactly what options each player has at all times. Both the Pokémon available and the moves they can choose are inherently limited by the selection process of the draft itself.

This more limited set of options counterintuitively increases the diversity of sets a Pokémon can run and roles they can fulfill depending on the matchup. Sets and moves that might be unviable into a metagame where you expect to face Tyranitar, Skarmory, and Blissey every second game become significantly more usable when only one eighth of the playerbase has access to each individual Pokémon. Draft rewards a creative team builder who can leverage the unique features of a Pokémon into an advantage for that specific matchup.

Below you will find a sample draft board reflective of the metagame as it existed during the first Hoenn Draft Invitational. Each Pokémon will have their main potential team roles listed, as well as key utility moves noted for your reference. This is not intended as an exhaustive list, but as a quick reference guide when considering which Pokémon to draft to start building or to fill out your team. In the roles section there will be numerous jargonistic terminology, most of which will be familiar to the experienced player. A glossary of these terms will be provided at the end of this guide for those less familiar with these terms.

Hoenn Draft Invitational Price Board​

Individual Pokémon Roles and Utility​

Pokémon by Price Tier

18

Potential Roles: Stat/Sub Passer, Set-up Sweeper, Mixed Wall, Cleric, Jack-of-all-Trades
Key Utility Moves: Recover, Baton Pass, Calm Mind, Leech Seed, Swords Dance, Perish Song, Heal Bell


Potential Roles: Breaker, Trader, Cleaner, Physical Tank
Key Utility Moves: Explosion, Agility
Special Move Access: Refresh (Event)


Potential Roles: Sweeper, Special Wall, Pressure Staller, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Thunder Wave, Substitute, Roar


Potential Roles: Sweeper, Trader, Breaker, End-game Boss
Key Utility Moves: Curse, Belly Drum, Protect, Counter, Refresh, Yawn, Amnesia, Block
Special Move Access: Charm, Refresh (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Jack-of-all-Trades, Cleaner, Stat/Sub Passer, Special Tank, Sustained Attacker, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Thunder Wave, Agility, Substitute, Baton Pass, Roar, Metal Sound, Protect
Special Move Access: Baton Pass, Extrasensory, Metal Sound (Pokémon XD)

17

Potential Roles: Sweeper, Breaker, Mixed Attacker, Intimidating Physical Tank
Key Utility Moves: Dragon Dance, Wish, Refresh, Roar
Special Move Access: Wish, Refresh (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Breaker, Sweeper, Trader, Cleaner
Key Utility Moves: Dragon Dance, Substitute, Pursuit, Counter, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Rain Dance

16

Potential Roles: Special Wall, Status Spreader, Cleric, End-game Boss, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Aromatherapy, Calm Mind, Counter, Soft-Boiled, Wish, Thunder Wave, Sing
Special Move Access: Wish (Event)


Potential Roles: Physical Wall, Mixed Wall, Offensive Water
Key Utility Moves: Recover, Refresh, Hypnosis, Mirror Coat


Potential Roles: Physical Wall, Spiker
Key Utility Moves: Spikes, Roar, Taunt, Counter


Potential Roles: Cleaner, Physical Wall, Mixed Wall, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Rapid Spin, Thunder Wave, Recover, Psych Up, Reflect, Light Screen

15

Potential Roles: Cleaner, Pressure Staller, Stat Pass Receiver, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Substitute, Toxic, Curse (White Herb)


Potential Roles: Breaker, Mixed Attacker
Key Utility Moves: Belly Drum, Substitute, Toxic, Beat Up


Potential Roles: Breaker, Sweeper, Mixed Attacker, Cleric
Key Utility Moves: Dragon Dance, Heal Bell, Thunder Wave, Light Screen
Special Move Access: Heal Bell (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Special Wall, Trader, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Explosion, Thunder Wave, Rest, Sleep Talk, Curse, Amnesia, Counter


Potential Roles: Physical Tank, Endeavor Trader, Mixed Attacker, End-game Boss
Key Utility Moves: Counter, Mirror Coat, Protect, Roar, Endeavor, Refresh

14

Potential Roles: Spinner, Physical Tank, Jack-of-all-Trades
Key Utility Moves: Rapid Spin, Explosion, Refresh, Rest, Reflect, Light Screen
Special Move Access: Refresh


Potential Roles: Trader, Cleaner, Trapper, Jack-of-all-Trades, Speed Control, Disruptor
Key Utility Moves: Will-O-Wisp, Taunt, Destiny Bond, Explosion, Hypnosis, Mean Look, Perish Song, Haze


Potential Roles: Sweeper, Intimidating Physical Tank, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Dragon Dance, Thunder Wave, Taunt, Flail


Potential Roles: Mixed Tank, Trader, Stat Pass Receiver
Key Utility Moves: Belly Drum, Bulk Up, Whirlwind, Knock Off, Fake Out, Counter
Special Move Access: Refresh (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Cleaner, Utility Supporting Pivot, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Wish, Thunder Wave, Roar, Baton Pass, Agility


Potential Roles: Breaker, Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Bulk Up, Calm Mind, Recover, Baton Pass, Substitute, Fake Out


Potential Roles: Mixed Tank, Jack-of-all-Trades, End-game Boss, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Thunder Wave, Explosion, Curse, Amnesia, Counter


Potential Roles: Offensive Water, Mixed Wall, Stat/Sub Passer
Key Utility Moves: Baton Pass, Wish, Substitute, Acid Armor, Roar

13

Potential Roles: Sweeper, Disruptor, Cleaner, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Encore, Recover, Trick, Thunder Wave


Potential Roles: Trapper, Killer, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Charm, Sandstorm, Substitute, Growl, Screech
Special Move Access: Charm (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Breaker, Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Substitute, Endure, Reversal, Flail


Potential Roles: Breaker, Trader
Key Utility Moves: Bulk Up, Encore


Potential Roles: Mixed Tank, Trader, Cleric, End-game Boss, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Curse, Milk Drink, Heal Bell, Thunder Wave, Counter


Potential Roles: Jack-of-all-Trades, Pressure Staller, Sustained Attacker
Key Utility Moves: Will-O-Wisp, Morning Sun, Roar, Substitute, Toxic, Protect
Special Move Access: Morning Sun, Will-O-Wisp, Extrasensory


Potential Roles: Physical Wall, Trader, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Thunder Wave, Explosion, Curse, Counter


Potential Roles: Staller, Revenge Killer, Petaya Sweeper, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Leech Seed, Substitute, Swords Dance, Endeavor, Pursuit

12

Potential Roles: Spinner, Bulky Water, Jack-of-all-Trades
Key Utility Moves: Rapid Spin, Foresight, Refresh, Rest, Sleep Talk, Yawn, Counter, Mirror Coat, Haze, Protect, Roar


Potential Roles: Mixed Breaker, Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Endure, Reversal


Potential Roles: Breaker, Status Spreader
Key Utility Moves: Spore, Stun Spore, Swords Dance, Leech Seed


Potential Roles: Sweeper, Stat Passer, Jack-of-all-Trades
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Baton Pass, Morning Sub, Charm, Substitute,


Potential Roles: Breaker, Cleaner
Key Utility Moves: Protect, Substitute, Toxic


Potential Roles: Jack-of-all-Trades, Breaker, Special Wall
Key Utility Moves: Rest (Early Bird), Fake Out, Counter
Special Move Access: Sing (Pokémon XD), Wish (Event)


Potential Roles: Bulky Water, Status Spreader, End-game Boss, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Curse, Thunder Wave, Rest


Potential Roles: Intimidating Breaker, Trader, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: n/a
Special Move Access: Refresh (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Physical Wall, Trader, Disruptor
Key Utility Moves: Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, Taunt, Explosion, Haze, Pain Split, Rest, Sleep Talk, Memento, Destiny Bond

11

Potential Roles: Utility Supporting Pivot, Mixed Attacker
Key Utility Moves: Morning Sun, Toxic, Roar, Extreme Speed, Thief
Special Move Access: Charm (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Spiker, Suicide Spiker, Exploder
Key Utility Moves: Spikes, Explosion, Rapid Spin
Special Move Access: Refresh (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Physical Wall, Breaker
Key Utility Moves: Rapid Spin, Roar, Protect, Toxic


Potential Roles: Set-up Sweeper, Sun Breaker, Pressure Staller
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Substitute, Toxic, Roar, Rest, Sunny Day


Potential Roles: Physical Wall, Spiker, Suicide Spiker, Spinner
Key Utility Moves: Spikes, Explosion, Rapid Spin, Zap Cannon, Counter, Light Screen


Potential Roles: Suicide Spiker, Exploder
Key Utility Moves: Spikes, Explosion, Taunt, Light Screen
Special Move Access: Sing (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Physical Sweeper, Rain Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Dragon Dance, Flail, Rain Dance


Potential Roles: Physical Wall, Mixed Wall, Special Tank, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Recover, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Agility, Sharpen, Calm mind


Potential Roles: Sweeper, Stat/Sub Passer
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Agility, Morning Sun, Baton Pass, Endure, Reversal
Special Move Access: Morning Sun (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Physical Wall
Key Utility Moves: Roar, Explosion, Toxic

:Venusaur;
Potential Roles: Mixed Tank, Set-up Sweeper, Disruptor
Key Utility Moves: Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, Swords Dance, Synthesis, Charm, Light Screen, Roar

10

Potential Roles: Special Wall, Status Spreader, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Aromatherapy, Counter, Soft-Boiled, Wish, Thunder Wave, Sing
Special Move Access: Wish (Event)


Potential Roles: Cleaner, Utility Supporting Pivot, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Substitute, Curse (White Herb), Taunt, Haze


Potential Roles: Trapper, Spinblocker, Mixed Wall
Key Utility Moves: Mean Look, Calm Mind, Will-O-Wisp, Imprison, Curse, Pain Split


Potential Roles: Set-up Sweeper, Breaker, Special Tank, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Wish, Hypnosis, Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Destiny Bond, Wish, Memento, Taunt, Mean Look
Special Move Access: Sing (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Physical Tank, Spinner
Key Utility Moves: Rapid Spin, Mach Punch, Bulk Up, Endeavor


Potential Roles: Special Wall, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Amnesia, Thunder Wave


Potential Roles: Rain Sweeper, Mixed Wall, Jack-of-all-Trades
Key Utility Moves: Rain Dance, Synthesis, Substitute, Leech Seed, Swords Dance, Fake Out


Potential Roles: Breaker, Stat Pass Receiver
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Belly Drum
Special Move Access: Sing (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Mixed Attacker
Key Utility Moves: Taunt


Potential Roles: Mixed Attacker, Physical Tank
Key Utility Moves: Taunt


Potential Roles: Bulky Water, Status Spreader, End-game Boss, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Curse, Thunder Wave, Counter


Potential Roles: Suicide Spiker, Stat/Sub Passer
Key Utility Moves: Spore, Baton Pass, All of them


Potential Roles: Spinner, Mixed Attacker, Set-up Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Rapid Spin, Haze, Swords Dance, Mirror Coat, Haze


Potential Roles: Breaker, Mixed Attacker
Key Utility Moves: Sunny Day


Potential Roles: Special Wall, Trapper, Stat/Sub Passer
Key Utility Moves: Curse, Baton Pass, Pursuit, Wish, Moonlight, Taunt, Mean Look, Charm


Potential Roles: Breaker, Stat Pass Receiver
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Bulk Up, Substitute, Protect

9

Potential Roles: Special Tank, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Thunder Wave, Heal Bell, Wish
Special Move Access: Heal Bell


Potential Roles: Breaker, Spinner, Physical Tank
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Rapid Spin, Harden, Knock Off


Potential Roles: Special Wall, Stat/Sub Passer, Jack-of-all-Trades, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Baton Pass, Wish, Calm Mind, Wish, Belly Drum, Thunder Wave
Special Move Access: Baton Pass (Pokémon XD), Wish (Event),


Potential Roles: Jack-of-all-Trades, Status Spreader, Set-up Sweeper, Trapper, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Thunder Wave, Mean Look, Perish Song, Destiny Bond, Taunt, Pain Split


Potential Roles: Offensive Water, Spiker
Key Utility Moves: Spikes, Rain Dance


Potential Roles: Special Tank, Cleric, Status Spreader
Key Utility Moves: Moonlight, Synthesis, Aromatherapy, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Leech Seed, Swords Dance

8

Potential Roles: Special Wall, Physical Wall
Key Utility Moves: Barrier, Amnesia, Recover, Mirror Coat


Potential Roles: Mixed Attacker, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Thunder Wave, Thief


Potential Roles: Revenge Killer, Trader, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Thunder Wave, Explosion


Potential Roles: Trader, Sun Breaker
Key Utility Moves: Sleep Powder, Explosion, Sunny Day, Wish
Special Move Access: Refresh (Pokémon XD), Wish (Event)


Potential Roles: Intimidating Physical Tank, Status Spreader, Cleric, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Thunder Wave, Bulk Up, Heal Bell, Taunt, Charm


Potential Roles: Physical Breaker, Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Bulk Up, Reversal, Mach Punch, Rapid Spin


Potential Roles: Special Breaker, Special Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Will-O-Wisp, Taunt, Beat Up, Pursuit


Potential Roles: Sweeper, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Belly Drum, Extremespeed, Thunder Wave


Potential Roles: Trapper, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Thunder Wave, Reflect, Rain Dance


Potential Roles: Mixed Tank
Key Utility Moves: Synthesis, Leech Seed, Swords Dance, Counter, Reflect, Light Screen


Potential Roles: Breaker, Stat Pass Receiver
Key Utility Moves: Hypnosis, Belly Drum, Haze, Counter


Potential Roles: Suicide Spiker, Offensive Water, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Spikes, Rain Dance, Swords Dance, Thunder Wave, Self-Destruct, Destiny Bond, Haze


Potential Roles: Breaker, Stat Pass Receiver, Physical Tank
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Substitute, Counter, Reversal


Potential Roles: Spinblocker, Physical Wall
Key Utility Moves: Knock Off, Recover, Taunt, Mean Look

7

Potential Roles: Mixed Wall, Jack-of-all-Trades, Speed Control, Disruptor
Key Utility Moves: Thunder Wave, Encore, Soft-Boiled, Calm Mind, Wish, Belly Drum, Counter, Cosmic Power


Potential Roles: Breaker, Cleaner, Stat/Sub Passer
Key Utility Moves: Agility, Baton Pass, Quick Attack, Taunt, Endeavor
Special Move Access: Baton Pass (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Set-up Sweeper, Mixed Wall, Special Wall
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Taunt, Counter, Trick


Potential Roles: Sweeper, Trapper
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Lovely Kiss, Substitute, Mean Look, Perish Song


Potential Roles: Mixed Tank
Key Utility Moves: Heal Bell, Roar
Special Move Access: Heal Bell (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Cleaner, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Thunder Wave


Potential Roles: Trader, Special Tank
Key Utility Moves: Curse, Explosion


Potential Roles: Utility Supporting Pivot
Key Utility Moves: Curse, Counter, Toxic, Yawn


Potential Roles: Special Attacker, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Encore, Wish, Thunder Wave


Potential Roles: Breaker
Key Utility Moves: Encore, Yawn, Counter


Potential Roles: Breaker, Stat/Sub Passer, Revenge Killer, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Agility, Baton Pass, Endeavor
Special Move Access: Baton Pass (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Mixed Tank
Key Utility Moves: Encore, Roar, Charm
Special Move Access: Charm (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Utility Supporting Pivot
Key Utility Moves: Amnesia


Potential Roles: Breaker, Sweeper, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Flail, Taunt, Thunder Wave

6

Potential Roles: Special Wall, Cleric, Pressure Staller
Key Utility Moves: Heal Bell, Haze, Agility, Roar, Reflect
Special Move Access: Heal Bell, Haze, Extrasensory


Potential Roles: Trader
Key Utility Moves: Explosion


Potential Roles: Petaya Sweeper, Physical Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Counter


Potential Roles: Rain Sweeper, Stat/Sub Passer
Key Utility Moves: Rain Dance, Agility, Barrier, Baton Pass


Potential Roles: Status Spreader, Disruptor, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Leech Seed, Encore, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Synthesis, Swords Dance


Potential Roles: Special Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Encore, Thunder Wave, Recover, Trick


Potential Roles: Stat/Sub Passer, Utility Supporting Pivot
Key Utility Moves: Baton Pass, Calm Mind, Hypnosis, Explosion
Special Move Access: Baton Pass (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Special Attacker
Key Utility Moves: Hypnosis, Agility, Baton Pass
Special Move Access: Baton Pass (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Sweeper, Stat/Sub Passer
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Agility, Baton Pass


Potential Roles: Stat/Sub Passer, Utility Supporting Pivot
Key Utility Moves: Baton Pass, Calm Mind, Reflect, Explosion
Special Move Access: Baton Pass (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Trader, Mixed Tank
Key Utility Moves: Self-Destruct

5

Potential Roles: Cleric, Set-up Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Dragon Dance, Heal Bell, Perish Song, Haze
Special Move Access: Heal Bell (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Breaker, Mixed Tank
Key Utility Moves: Belly Drum, Encore, Charm, Perish Song


Potential Roles: Spinblocker, Status Spreader, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Taunt, Destiny Bond, Knock Off, Curse


Potential Roles: Mixed Wall, Status Spreader
Key Utility Moves: Sleep Powder, Synthesis, Stun Spore, Charm


Potential Roles: Special Tank, Stat/Sub Passer
Key Utility Moves: Wish, Baton Pass, Curse


Potential Roles: Physical Wall, Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Quick Attack, Knock Off


Potential Roles: Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Endure
Special Move Access: Charm (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Trader, Physical Tank
Key Utility Moves: Explosion


Potential Roles: Spinner
Key Utility Moves: Bulk Up, Rapid Spin, Mach Punch


Potential Roles: Status Spreader
Key Utility Moves: Will-O-Wisp, Hypnosis


Potential Roles: Stat/Sub Passer**, Sweeper, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Baton Pass**
**Baton Pass is banned on Ninjask in many tours


Potential Roles: Breaker, Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Flail, Bulk Up


Potential Roles: Offensive Water, Mixed Tank
Key Utility Moves: Hypnosis, Belly Drum, Perish Song, Counter


Potential Roles: Breaker
Key Utility Moves: Bulk Up, Taunt, Reversal


Potential Roles: Spiker, Status Spreader, Cleric
Key Utility Moves: Spikes, Aromatherapy, Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Rest


Potential Roles: Trader, Sun Breaker
Key Utility Moves: Explosion, Swords Dance, Leech Seed, Fake Out


Potential Roles: Sweeper, Disruptor
Key Utility Moves: Encore, Bulk Up, Slack Off

4

Potential Roles: Bulky Water
Key Utility Moves: Encore, Perish Song, Fake Out


Potential Roles: Stat/Sub Passer, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Calm Mind, Agility, Baton Pass, Wish, Thunder Wave


Potential Roles: Trader, Special Attacker, Jack-of-all-Trades
Key Utility Moves: Will-O-Wisp, Taunt, Destiny Bond, Explosion, Hypnosis, Mean Look, Perish Song, Haze


Potential Roles: Rain Sweeper, Stat/Sub Passer
Key Utility Moves: Rain Dance, Baton Pass, Barrier


Potential Roles: Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Flail, Rapid Spin


Potential Roles: Mixed Attacker
Key Utility Moves: Confuse Ray


Potential Roles: Trader, Physical Tank
Key Utility Moves: Explosion


Potential Roles: Trader
Key Utility Moves: Encore, Explosion, Yawn
Special Move Access: Sing


Potential Roles: Trader
Key Utility Moves: Explosion


Potential Roles: Status Spreader, Sun Breaker
Key Utility Moves: Encore, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Swords Dance, Synthesis, Morning Sun


Potential Roles: Stat/Sub Passer, Speed Control, Jack-of-all-Trades
Key Utility Moves: Wish, Thunder Wave, Calm Mind, Baton Pass, Featherdance

3

Potential Roles: Physical Tank
Key Utility Moves: Endeavor, Taunt, Thunder Wave


Potential Roles: Spinblocker, Status Spreader
Key Utility Moves: Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Curse, Memento


Potential Roles: Mixed Attacker
Key Utility Moves: Taunt


Potential Roles: Stat/Sub Passer, Breaker
Key Utility Moves: Agility, Baton Pass


Potential Roles: Special Wall, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Trick, Thunder Wave


Potential Roles: Physical Tank
Key Utility Moves: Knock Off, Harden, Swords Dance


Potential Roles: Special Wall
Key Utility Moves: Haze


Potential Roles: Stat/Sub Passer
Key Utility Moves: Taunt, Swords Dance, Iron Defense, Baton Pass


Potential Roles: Breaker
Key Utility Moves: Agility, Thunder Wave


Potential Roles: Mixed Tank
Key Utility Moves: Roar, Reflect, Light Screen


Potential Roles: Mixed Attacker
Key Utility Moves: Taunt


Potential Roles: Status Spreader
Key Utility Moves: Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Leech Seed

2

Potential Roles: Intimidating Status Spreader
Key Utility Moves: Glare, Haze


Potential Roles: Cleric, Set-up Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Heal Bell, Calm Mind, Hypnosis


Potential Roles: Breaker
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Taunt


Potential Roles: Trapper
Key Utility Moves: Charm, Sandstorm, Substitute


Potential Roles: Cleric
Key Utility Moves: Counter, Heal Bell, Wish
Special Move Access: Heal Bell, Wish (Event)


Potential Roles: Trader
Key Utility Moves: Bulk Up, Encore


Potential Roles: Endeavor Trader
Key Utility Moves: Endeavor


Potential Roles: Intimidating Cleric
Key Utility Moves: Heal Bell
Special Move Access: Heal Bell (Pokémon XD)


Potential Roles: Stat/Sub Passer
Key Utility Moves: Agility, Baton Pass


Potential Roles: Trader, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Thunder Wave


Potential Roles: Suicide Spiker, Spinner
Key Utility Moves: Spikes, Rapid Spin, Explosion


Potential Roles: Endeavor Trader
Key Utility Moves: Super Fang, Endeavor


Potential Roles: Physical Tank
Key Utility Moves: none


Potential Roles: Wonder Guard
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Agility, Baton Pass


Potential Roles: Sweeper
Key Utility Moves: Dragon Dance, Wish


Potential Roles: Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Swords Dance, Taunt


Potential Roles: Intimidating Status Spreader, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Hypnosis, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Roar


Potential Roles: Trader
Key Utility Moves: Explosion, Counter


Potential Roles: Trapper
Key Utility Moves: none


Potential Roles: Mixed Tank, Status Spreader, Jack-of-all-Trades, Speed Control
Key Utility Moves: Wish, Thunder Wave, Charm, Perish Song

Useful 1 Pointers

: Diverse offensive movepool with Stat Pass and Wish (Event) held back by speed and frailty.

: Electric and Ground immune Rapid Spinner.

: Niche emergency Raikou answer.

: One point speedy spin blocker with decent coverage and Explosion.

: Normal resist with a powerful Explosion.

: Fighting resist with a powerful Explosion.

: Levitating Fighting resist with a decently strong Explosion.

: Skarmory trap threatening teambuilder check.

: Medicham-lite.

: Niche Skarmory trapper.

: Spore.

: Reasonably powerful CB Return.

: Water immune Rain Dance attacker with Belly Drum.

: Dragon Dance Sweeper with Ground STAB.

: Wide coverage frail attacker.

: Niche utility wall.

: Capable spinner into Forretress teams.

: Strong but slow Sunny Day attacker.

: Solidly statted utility attacker with Sleep Powder.

: Fast CB Explosion.

: Bulky but passive reliable Rapid Spinner

: Reversal sweeper with 99% accurate sleep

Cacturne (and Sandslash)

Cacturne receives a special notice here as its status of legality is currently up for debate due to the ability Sand Veil. Although it has not been allowed in most tournaments, several major tournaments have allowed it - banning it alongside Tyranitar - and you may encounter it or wish to use it yourself in such tournaments as a result. Sandslash is also in this boat for the same reason, though its potential impact is notably lessened.


Potential Roles: Spiker, Trader
Key Utility Moves: Spikes, Encore, Leech Seed, Swords Dance, Destiny Bond


Potential Roles: Physical Tank, Spinner
Key Utility Moves: Rapid Spin, Swords Dance

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

A Comprehensive Guide to Drafting​

Now that we have the lay of the land, it’s time to dig into the meat of the format - the draft itself. It is no understatement to say that the drafting process is the most influential activity you will undertake in the Draft format. The team you build informs everything else about the process: what strategies are available to you, your matchup spread into your opposition, the degree of variance you invite into your games, and even the expected length of a game you play. Understanding the draft process and managing a team build while adapting to the changing strategies of seven other people can be the difference between making a championship team and breaking your leg before the first hurdle.

In this section we will discuss how draft position affects the beginning of your build and the strategic team choices available to you for each of the most common first picks, the types of team styles and how a draft build must consider its orientation towards pace and tempo, my consideration of the most important threats to consider in the draft format, and an overall consideration of the place of spikes in the metagame and how it influences the structure you build.

Draft Position​

The first thing that will influence the draft you build is the draft position randomly assigned to you at the start of the tournament. Each draft position differs in ways obvious and subtle in how it affects the team selections available to you as well as strategic considerations in timing your pick selection based on the drafts before and after you. As ADV draft is conducted in a snake format, the first picks you make are crucial in maximizing your overall level of team cohesion and power.

Let’s briefly discuss the differences in these picks:

• 1: The first pick has the most control of any in the draft. Along with 8th, they are the only slots allowed to make two selections in a row. This significantly increases the likelihood that a drafter will be able to build a coherent team, as each individual selection can be more clearly planned to fit towards an overall goal. First pick also gets their preferential choice of starting Pokémon, at the trade off of waiting until 16th pick for their second. First picks most commonly choose between , , , , and , as these picks collectively represent the highest individual level of power in the metagame.

• 2: The second pick has much in common with the first pick; although it lacks the ability to pick back to back, it can still mimic this ability by predicting what the first pick drafter will prioritize. As an example, a first pick drafter will have distinctly different priorities than a second pick drafter, allowing the drafter to structure their priority picks accordingly. Second picks commonly choose between , , , , and , with most players having two or three options they are comfortable using.

• 3: The public perception of the third pick varies wildly and is entirely dependent on how many “top picks” a player believes is available to draft. As you are at the mercy of the two players ahead of you, if you believe for example that and are a clear tier above the other first picks you may be forced into an unfavorable position. In contrast, if you believe or are equally good top picks this can allow you to take one of the top options available and also increase the value of your second pick. This does come with downsides however, with two people ahead of you on the first pick turn it is significantly more difficult to project four Pokémon worth of draft slots. Consequently, third pick and other middle picks are much more strongly incentivized to draft for a more flexible strategy, as individual key strategic options may not be available for them on their return pick, which can limit the build choices available to them. Third picks see among the most variance in choice; the most common choices here are , , and , but any or that fall may come here as well. A player who believes in the value of ’s stat pass may take it here, as more effectively pairs with the second and third picks in the 14-22 range than it does with those that go around 8 and 24. The adventurous drafter may even take for a more flexible approach to their draft

• 4: Much of what applies to third pick applies to fourth as well, with all the constraints aforementioned even more strongly applicable here. The contrasting benefit however is that the fourth pick is all but guaranteed to get a powerful team selection for their second pick. Whereas the first several picks typically choose off power alone, the fourth has concrete reasons to pick strategically for the style of draft they want to play. Pick options here are similar to in third, but with the added consideration of how each of these picks pairs with Pokémon such as , , , or one of the Regi trio.

• 5: In many ways fifth pick and fourth pick are near interchangeable, and their drafts and results often look similar. The added degree of initial control favors fourth, but there is little to differentiate the two given the Pokémon typically taken. The advantage to fifth is in the premium selection priority to top second round selections. Pokémon such as or that are in high demand across several first pick partners are liable to be snapped up at this position based on the respective partner. In this position and are unlikely to fall and should be taken if they do, so , , and are regularly taken in this position, with occasional features from , , and .

• 6: Sixth pick is the red-headed stepchild of draft positions and historically has the poorest performance. It is in the unenviable position of being in the last slot to pick among the traditional “Big 6” Pokémon (Snorlax, Zapdos, Tyranitar, Metagross, Raikou, Celebi), with no control among which option may fall to the drafter. A drafter uncomfortable with the option available to them may bypass the Big 6 option altogether for a lesser powered but more consistent approach. As a result these drafts often struggle, not due to power issues but more due to unfamiliarity. Indeed, a drafter comfortable with any of the top picks may excel, given their choice of the top of the second tier picks. Common selections in this position include , , , and the occasional foray into ;, or , but any pick made here will be done with a clear sense of which second round pick they are targeting as a complement. As a personal observation, balanced and defensive drafts tend to struggle heavily in this position, while offensive focused drafts thrive.

• 7: Seventh pick is in a fairly unique spot in the draft, oddly positioned between the tail end of the traditional “Big 6” and the eight pick. On paper this would seem to be a disadvantage, but often results in being the beneficiary of either a “Big 6” Pokémon falling if a drafter doesn’t feel comfortable using it, or getting to take its choice of starting Pokémon in a way that influences the pick available to the 8th pick player. Seventh slot will typically take any Big 6 Pokémon that falls to its slot, or will choose between and depending on if the player wants to orient around Spikes, knowing that one of , , or the unchosen alternative will be available to them at 10, as well as less common picks like , , or a Regi.

• 8: Eighth pick, also known as the “wheel”, is often considered the weakest pick as a result of missing out on the strongest selection of Pokémon, but actually performs as one of the best pick slots on a statistical basis. In open tournaments, 8th pick often benefits from unconventional selections before it which allow it to take advantage of powerful Pokémon that fall in the draft, but in a redraft or invitational setting this is less common. Much like first pick, eight pick benefits from the cohesive power of selecting two picks back to back; with their first and second pick an eighth slot draft can take the ideal starting pair for their board and draft vision to maximize their starting position, and maintain that throughout the rest of the draft. This also allows an eighth pick to pursue more directly focused strategies such as Spikes focused builds with a guarantee of effective partnership. Eighth picks most commonly pick among two of , , , and depending on what the seventh pick chooses, but may also have access to or choose a different pick altogether. Common pairings in this position include alongside or , or a and pairing. and are often paired together but rarely perform well in practice; the lack of offensive ability is a hindrance in a draft environment when teams can curate specific answers to break them down.

First Picks and their Common Partners​

As important as it is to understand the ways in which the pick position you have affects your pick strategy, it is equally important to understand how to effectively build around your first pick selection, the cornerstone of your draft. Each first pick embodies a different approach to the game, and demands different complementary traits from their early partners as a result. We will explore these trait pairings below.

Snorlax

Snorlax is commonly considered the strongest pick in the ADV draft environment - and for good reason. In a metagame where Sand Stream is limited to one team in eight and Spikes are less ubiquitous with the reduced access to Skarmory, Snorlax’s biggest hindrance in passive damage is significantly lessened in impact, increasing the overall value of its bulk and passive recovery. As a result, Snorlax has much more room to take advantage of its expansive movepool and of the power boost Curse provides to pressure opposing teams. In short, Snorlax is the most self-sufficient Pokémon in ADV Draft, and its early partners will typically seek to mitigate its few weaknesses, or double down on its strengths to better leverage the traits Snorlax provides.

Snorlax best operates as a resilient progress maker or end game win condition, with the ability to function as a powerful trader as the matchup demands. Curse, STAB, coverage, and a utility move is its most common set, most commonly taking advantage of Rest or Protect among other utility options. Self-Destruct is also a common feature on these sets as Snorlax can regularly beat a dedicated answer with coverage such as Fire Blast, Focus Punch, Earthquake, or Shadow Ball, and then explode on a second opponent to earn a full Pokémon advantage. Mono attacking Rest Talk sets are also powerful, but should be used sparingly. In a vacuum, nothing in the format is more powerful, but opponents will often come prepared with Encore, Leech Seed, Charm, and powerful physical attackers to limit its snowball ability.

Common Snorlax partners include:

• Fighting resistance with Intimidate, paralysis support, and physical sweeping to take advantage of Snorlax breaking.
• Fighting resist and Ground immunity with Rapid Spin, a flexible generalist that can check Tyranitar and Explode.
• Powerful offensive breaker who can open holes for Snorlax to take advantage of, or vice-versa.
• Strongest dedicated Fighting counter with recovery and Explosion splits offensive trading and defensive checking responsibilities.
• A sturdy Normal resist bulky enough to check powerful Rock attacks from Tyranitar and Aerodactyl, with complementary Curse and Explosion capability.
• Dedicated special wall frees Snorlax from defensive responsibility, offers supportive paralysis support and Explosion.
• Rock resistance with Rapid Spin and powerful physical STAB.
• Bulky Water with Rapid Spin, a generalist with a flexible movepool that can answer Tyranitar and Metagross.
• Bulky Water with Wish and Sub Pass, and a capable check to Tyranitar and Metagross.

In aggregate, effective Snorlax partners typically provide some level of complementary defensive ability, either checking Fighting types or the most dangerous top Physical picks in Tyranitar and Metagross, while also offering some form of utility either in the form of Rapid Spin, Paralysis, or Explosion. Snorlax builds will almost always be defined as Bulky Offense, with a trade heavy style that favors its ability to win end game scenarios, or clear the path for teammates to do the same. However, Snorlax’s self-sufficiency grants a lot of space to experiment in the draft build, so do not be afraid to deviate from established conventions. As long as you cover your defensive bases, almost any Snorlax team has a good chance to succeed.


Zapdos

Zapdos is, in this author’s opinion, the most reliable and consistent value-based Pokémon available to take at the first pick of the draft. When paired with a competent team, Zapdos will always find some role to fill and perform it at a high value - its combination of strong Thunderbolt, effective coverage, high impact utility options, and flexibility between offensive and defensive capabilities reward the insightful builder. Zapdos pairs effectively with a notably large amount of inexpensive draft picks which allows it to pivot its team structure as a draft progresses. This flexibility allows a drafter to choose from many different approaches and tailor their draft accordingly.

Zapdos most commonly functions as a sustained generalist attacker, using Thunderbolt and coverage to chip away at an opponent’s defenses, but it performs admirably when asked to take on a more supportive role. Defensive sets using a combination of Toxic, Rest, Protect, and Substitute can be very difficult for many teams to break and offer consistent long-term value by checking dangerous threats such as Metagross or Gengar, both through direct defensive resilience as well as using Pressure-based PP stall tactics. Most dangerous is its ability to Baton Pass, with both Substitute and Agility offering opportunity to extremely powerful breakers to open a hole in the opponent’s defenses - a common tactic against teams with dedicated special walls. In every matchup, Zapdos will be able to find some angle with which to progress its user towards a win.

Common Zapdos partners include:

• Tyranitar trapper that enables frailer team builds to succeed, well known synergy with SubPass strategies.
• Baton Pass core chaining Substitutes and lesser boosts between each other and the team, offensive sets help break for each other while defensive sets cover the Rock and Ice weaknesses.
• Resilient and flexible mixed wall effectively covers Zapdos weaknesses and vice versa, Thunder Wave and Explosion offer chances to create openings for Zapdos to exploit.
• Rock resist with powerful mixed attacking profile switches in on each other’s checks.
• Psychic resisting special wall with Baton Pass synergy providing Calm Mind boosts to Zapdos’s power, or Agility boosts to Hypno’s Belly Drum.
• Checking Tyranitar and Snorlax covers Zapdos’s weaknesses but limits drafting options for specially defensive coverage.
• Rock resisting breaker abuses Special walls, devastating Belly Drum set with an Agility pass.
• Rapid Spin supports common Zapdos teammates, Normal resisting breaker functions similar to Hariyama with Swords Dance.
• Spikes and Explosion enable special offense based Zapdos builds.

Common Zapdos partners are quite diverse in the roles and functions they perform, and indeed the hardest task facing a Zapdos drafter is accurately assessing the type of build they want to work towards. In general, a Zapdos drafter should consider partners that can check Snorlax and Metagross, switch into and take advantage of special walls, and offer team supporting capabilities that enable a consistent value generation team strategy. Zapdos team styles effectively span the entire range of team structures depending on the direction chosen by the drafter.


Tyranitar

Tyranitar finds itself in an unusual position in the draft metagame in that it is objectively one of the most powerful sweepers in the tier, something everyone knows they must prepare for, and yet by virtue of that preparation it finds it very difficult to perform a sweep, historically underperforming in draft as a result. One of the reasons for this is the tendency of the average draft player to mimic structures that work in Standard OU, namely Toxic Spikes Sand strategies. Although powerful in Standard, these strategies struggle more heavily in Draft where the focus on defensive structure leaves powerful offensive options on the board, and common defensive partners such as Swampert, Moltres, and Forretress are significantly more susceptible to being broken down by coverage moves when the opponent has the foreknowledge to prepare for them. To date, the only significant tournament result using Tyranitar as a Spikes Balance strategy enabler has been Hclat’s EO4 finals run, with all others falling short.

The key feature missing from these teams is the evaluation of Sand as a resource in draft. Unlike in Standard where Sand and Tyranitar are ubiquitous, only a handful of teams in any Draft tournament have access to Tyranitar. This effectively increases the bulk of every Pokémon manyfold, as every iteration of Leftovers healing accumulates in full, rather than being counteracted by sand. What does this mean? Sand is the single most powerful offensive enabler in the ADV draft environment. No other feature of a Pokémon, move or ability, is as universally detrimental to sustainability and defensive counter measures, in a format where teams cannot easily stack defensive counterplay or Sand immunities. The downfall of the TSS teams has been the failure to realize that every turn your own team is taking Sand damage is leveling the playing field between you and your opponent in the war of attrition, sacrificing incremental advantages in bulk and resilience gained when trading blows back and forth.

Tyranitar teams are strongest when they lean into the offensive edge provided by Sand, overwhelming opposing defensive countermeasures and paving the way for one team member to find a path to sweep. Indeed this can include Tyranitar itself, as very few things can stand up to its Dragon Dance boosted attacks. Bulky Ground and Water types and walls such as Regirock are commonplace on opposing teams as drafters know to prepare for Tyranitar, so common partners seek to enter on these defensive countermeasures, or provide breaking opportunities through the same. Tyranitar may often run a mixed coverage set as a result, particularly into ground types where a well timed Ice Beam may break the spine of an opposing defensive line. Tyranitar teams also commonly employ what is known as the “Hidden Power Division” strategy, making use of multiple Pokémon with 4x type weaknesses with the rationale that an opponent can only use one coverage type at a time.

Common Tyranitar Partners include:

• Sand Balance partners: these partners aim to support a TSS style of game play and win a war of attrition.
  • Spin blocker of choice on these structures, highly flexible and adaptable.
  • Sand immune Spiker, best available without access to .
  • Effective abuser of TSS residual damage with Will-O-Wisp and Roar, also checking Grass types that may prove disruptive.
  • Obligatory Rock resist and natural Sand immune bulky water partner.
  • Levitating Fighting-type counter with sustainable recovery.
• Offensive breaking partners: these partners aim to support an Offensive style of game play, progressively breaking down an opponents defensives with threat after threat after threat.
  • Intimidating Fighting resist which forms a Dragon Dance core to break defensive checks for each other.
  • Rock offensive overload concept with Spikes support.
  • The only viable Sand immune Endure/Reversal sweeper, a powerful offensive closer into a weakened team.
  • Fighting-type breakers: , , ; all enter on slower and weaker defensive counterplay and make guaranteed damage progress into an opposing team.
  • Choice Band Normal types: generically powerful breakers, in particular offers Speed into typically slow Tyanitar drafts.
  • a beneficiary of Hidden Power division, Ice coverage cannot always be fit and CB Earthquake is a powerful attack.
• Complementary defensive partners: these Pokémon naturally synergize and cover the defensive gaps Tyranitar leaves as a first pick with many common weaknesses.
  • Fighting and Ground immunity, Grass and Bug resistance.
  • Reliable special wall into Water types et al.
  • Bulky Water types: Consistent short term checks to Metagross and opposing Rock attackers.
  • Sturdiest Fighting counter.
  • Reliable special wall into Water types, among others.
  • Flexible defensive check with Water and Fighting type resistances.

Unlike the previous two Pokémon, Tyranitar teams need to be built with focused intent. In drafting a Pokémon with a quad Fighting weakness and numerous other common type weaknesses, you are accepting the responsibility of covering for these gaps in exchange for the most powerful offensive positioning you can achieve. Understand from the outset whether you are intending to draft a slower TSS style game pace or a faster offensive pace and draft with priority accordingly - partners such as Gyarados and Gengar will not stay on the board for long.


Metagross

Metagross is what you get if you give an assassin a sledgehammer, at one point considered the top dog in the ADV Draft metagame. It is the single unwallable Pokémon in the format - nothing can stand up to repeated Choice Band Meteor Mashes and also compensate for the litany of coverage moves Metagross can bring. In a closed information environment where the Metagross user can curate their moveset and bring mixed sets with minimal penalty, this is a deadly proposition. Metagross can further be used effectively in a defensive role, leveraging its impressive physical bulk. Although the cases where this will be more effective than an offensive set are rare, access to Refresh and Iron Defense, and even simple Rest Sets can effectively blank common threats such as Choice Band Normal attackers.

Metagross is held back primarily by its relatively low speed and lack of recovery, and secondly by the natural team building tendencies of draft structures. Although nothing can truly counter a Metagross, bulky waters are capable of holding it at bay for a time and responding back with status, coverage, or Surfs aimed at Metagross’s weaker special defense. Nearly every Draft team will draft at least one Water type, so all teams will have some form of protection available to them before considering a more targeted defense. From the offensive side, the best approach to handling Metagross is to trade out its HP with special coverage attacks, as a 30% Metagross no longer presents a threat, even if it took out a mon in the process. However, this underscores the main truth of Metagross, in that it is bar none the most effective trader in the tier. When played correctly, it is guaranteed to get at least one kill, with a second liable to follow on the back of an Explosion. And if the Metagross gets lucky? Meteor Mash raises can spell doom for even the most well prepared drafters.

Metagross drafts fall under two general structures, Balanced and Aggressive Offense, but several other styles are still yet to be fully developed. Balanced structures effectively function as five Pokémon team cores excluding Metagross, where Metagross is free to act as a free agent sniper in the matchup. Such teams aim for overall resiliency and use Metagross as their main form of progress making. Aggressive Offense builds have seen the most success, and focus around the combination of Metagross alongside a premier Spiker and speedy offensive threats to close the game quickly. A third concept in development is a “Water overload” strategy, using the damage of Choice Band Mashes to break down bulky waters for partners to break through a weakened defensive response.

Common Metagross Partners:

• Metagross Balance
  • Bulky Waters: Necessary to cover the Fire type weakness, and are common premium picks, though a litany of lower priced options may also be effective.
  • Bulky Grasses: Electric resisters who enter on Water types, and in particular are common partners, offering longevity and status disruption to a longer term plan, as well as cleric capability in ’s case.
  • The ideal partner for Metagross if available, the compression of the best special wall and options for Wish and Cleric support is the perfect complement.
  • Spinners: Metagross must maintain health to be effective in a bulkier role, and common spinners therefore pair well. and are of general effectiveness, but cheaper options such as are also commonly seen.
• Metagross Spikes Offense
  • Suicide Spikers: Necessary for this structure, and are high priority picks. If neither is available, may also fulfill a similar role.
  • The combination of potent mixed attacking potential and Dragon Dance provides a complementary offensive breaker alongside Metagross in this structure.
  • Speed control, Wish, Roar, and an Electric immunity; Jolteon covers many gaps a Metagross offense may find difficult to cover.
  • The most aggressive option among the special walls, Regice functions well to handle special attacking threats, support Metagross with Thunder Wave, and Explode if needed.
  • Simultaneously provides Rapid Spin support and alleviates defensive pressure from Metagross in checking threatening physical attackers.
  • An excellent Spikes abuser often thwarted by Water types, it takes advantage of the holes Metagross can open to pick apart a weakened team.
• Metagross Water Breaker
  • Fire Attackers: The biggest beneficiaries of a Metagross deleting a Water type, , , and are dangerous threats with their key counters removed.
  • Dragon Dancers: and are powerful threats in their own right, moreso with bulky waters removed. is an unexplored option that may offer a unique opportunity if Metagross hits a different defensive response.
  • Bulky Physical Boosters: Pokémon such as , , and become significantly more effective when their boosted attacks are threatening one hit knockouts instead of two. additionally functions as a supportive spinner without Waters taking advantage.
  • Offensive Waters: Many drafts answer a powerful Hydro Pump with a bulky water of their own. Without such to fall back on, , , or can present a powerful breaking threat into an opposing team.

Metagross drafts are more constrained than they first appear. Although Metagross itself has superb power and flexibility, its speed limits the roles it can play at any one time, and it relies on its teammates to open space for it to operate. Defensive responses to special attackers are required, and secondary responses to physical sweepers are also appreciated for Metagross to focus on its offenses. When properly supported however, Metagross is a powerhouse unequalled and is highly rewarding in the right hands.



Raikou

Once upon a time, Raikou was an ADV Draft super threat, the strongest Pokémon in a fledgling metagame pulling off sweeps left and right. While that status has diminished over time, it still remains the most potent set-up sweeper available at the top of the draft. Raikou is not a complicated Pokémon, but it does have nuance in its own way. Its bread and butter is its Calm Mind sweeping abilities, supplemented by Crunch and your choice of Hidden Power for coverage, but its natural special bulk and Pressure allow it to perform admirably in a defensive role when the matchup is hostile to its offensive tools.

Raikou drafts fall into two main categories: Spikes Balance and All Out Offense. In the former, a Spiking partner with longevity sets the table for a Raikou team to methodically break down opposing defensive answers to pave the way for an end game sweep. The latter style stacks Raikou with as many powerful breakers as it can fit while covering its defensive needs, overwhelming the opponent with sheer force. In either case, a Spikes user is mandatory for any Raikou draft, it simply does not function effectively without the residual damage to wear down its checks.


Common Raikou partners:

• The ideal partner for Raikou, though rarely available, Skarmory provides the Spikes Raikou needs to succeed and covers every weakness offered defensively. Skarmory with Raikou is the core of the balance structures Raikou fits into and is what allows these teams to play a slower tempo.
• Spikers: Without Skarmory, any of the other Spikers will suffice for an offensive build. and are most commonly seen for their access to Explosion and flexible approaches, while is the discount Spiker of choice for the same reason. and also function adequately, however they are liable to give up tempo a Raikou Offense may not be able to afford.
• The “Checkbox” partner, Claydol fills every role a Raikou team needs, simultaneously resisting Rock, Ground, clearing Spikes, and Exploding when ready. The problem Claydol faces is it cannot perform all of these roles at once - Raikou with Claydol teams have historically underperformed - and are liable to get overrun by simple damage pressure. A Claydol with more support may function effectively, but it is not recommended to take earlier than the fourth pick as the power decrease is notable.
• Despite having little apparent offensive synergy, this partnership has the highest pair win rate at the time of writing. Simple defensive type complements, access to Thunder Wave, and two dangerous set-up sweepers is a strong starting position. However, Gyarados faces heavy pick competition from other drafts and cannot be relied on to be available for selection.
• Fighting-types: , , and are commonly seen pairings to abuse the presence of special walls such as and that attempt to check Raikou.
• Rapid Spinners: Raikou appreciates the removal of Spikes to maximize its decent bulk over the course of the game, and common top spinners pair well as defensive supports. In addition to , is an effective Rock check and is a flexible defensive support in the Bulky Water role.
• Physical Type Resists: Powerful Normal, Rock, Ground, and Fighting attacks are the biggest threats into a Raikou draft. Type immunities and resistances are commonly used to answer these, such as , , or . A Raikou team should look to cover these type threats organically, but must have a plan to deal with them or else get overrun.
• Tanky Breakers: Raikou rarely wants to take hits itself, so it appreciates the pivot support provided by this type of Pokémon. and are natural fits in this role, but special mention is made of as a third round pick, the bulky water profile combined with Wish support and Sub Passing, paired with a powerful 110 base SpAtk Hydro Pump makes for a highly complementary partner.

More than any other first round pick, a Raikou draft is fully focused around supporting its sweeping capabilities, Raikou offers little else in the way of roles it can perform and does not present a defensive response to any of the top threats, so common picks will seek to strike a balance between filling the gaps Raikou leaves as a first pick and loading of on powerhouse threats to open the way. Your second and third picks will determine which build path you take and this decision must be fully committed for a Raikou draft to succeed.


Celebi

Celebi has the most volatile reputation of any first round pick; it functions completely differently than other top picks and drafters have a love or hate relationship with it as a result. When held up against the other top picks Celebi struggles into all of them, each consistently presenting a greater threat to Celebi than it does to them. In the right hands however, Celebi is a force multiplier like no other, flexibly filling any role a team may need while boosting its partners’ capabilities. Celebi is the inverse of the other top picks in that its strength comes from the ways in which it turbocharges the strategy of the rest of its team. While it is a capable special attacker in its own right, it lacks the top end power necessary to feature as a central build focus and such team structures consistently struggle. In the hands of a skilled pilot maximizing its supporting capabilities however, a Celebi team is a threat to win any matchup.

Celebi drafts differ in structure based on whether they draft Spikes or not. Celebi Spikes builds should look to draft one of Round 2 , Round 3 , or Round 5 , alongside a capable offensive Water type. These structures leverage the passive damage of Spikes to progressively break down an opposition through a combination of Celebi Baton Pass, inherent breaking power, or Dugtrio trapper removal. AeroBi structures are the most aggressive of this form, as a +2 (+3 with Liechi Berry) Aerodactyl after receiving a Swords Dance Pass usually ends the game. These structures will use a combination of fast attackers and bulky pivots to accrue damage on the opposition before going in for a kill. Dugtrio builds focus more around the removal of specially defensive threats preventing a late-game Celebi sweep in connection with Baton Pass. These structures have flexibility in their build direction, both aggressive and balance oriented, but both require a sturdy Water type to defend against opposing Dragon Dancers granted set-up opportunity by a Choice Band locked Dugtrio. Both of these structures must draft a capable Spiker to be effective, with Glalie, Forretress, and Cloyster Explosions helping to patch up tempo gaps. Celebi drafts with Skarmory are significantly more resilient defensively due to the natural type synergy between the two and are very comfortable playing for a lengthy game maintaining Spikes, and this is the main avenue where Celebi Stall can be successful. As with other structures, defensive responses to Fire types and Dragon Dancers are a must.

Spikeless Celebi in contrast embodies the Jack-of-all-Trades playstyle, with the benefits and costs associated. Most commonly seen paired with a second round Milotic, these structures build with a “good stuff” balance mentality, drafting around typing resilience and flexible responses to break down the opponent. Celebi is most typically used as a Calm Mind passer in these structures to strengthen its Water and Fire partners. These drafts suffer from being heavily grounded, necessitating a Rapid Spinner, as well as being somewhat lacking in immediate power. Breakers such as Armaldo or Ursaring are recommended partners as a result, with an overall structural theme reminiscent of Mixed Offense in Standard OU. These structures play at a middling pace and can find it difficult to rebound from hax as a result, breaking a key defensive piece will usually spell disaster for the Celebi drafter. The key to this structure is role compression and proactivity; these teams cannot win a tournament focused around defensive resilience and must find ways to push their game state forward, leveraging Baton Pass to maximum effect.

Common Celebi Partners:

• Deadly Swords Dance Pass recipient maximizes Spikes pressure.
• Ideal defensive partner and effective CM Pass recipient as an offensive Water, sometimes struggles with passivity.
• Fire-types: Common FWG triad on Spikeless builds, (Intimidate), (Calm Mind), and (Petaya Blaze) are all effective recipients of Baton Pass entries.
• Hybrid offensive and bulky water forms a flexible Baton Pass chain.
• Spikers: , , , ; discussed above, enables the more consistent Celebi archetypes.
• Spinners: fulfills the bulky water requirement on Celebi structures; provides a valuable Tyranitar check; is notably weaker but can function on defensive structures.
• Early Bird Rest and high overall stats compresses specially defensive walling and offensive pressure on fast faced Spikes builds.
• Paralysis spreader, Cleric, fast Choice Bander, and dangerous Curse sweeper, strong and flexible premium pairing.
• Physical Breakers: Necessary power injection for a lower ceiling offensive structure, examples include , , , or .
• Break glass in case of emergency defensive pick.
• Physical defender can also make effective use of Swords Dance boosts passed to it.

Drafting Celebi is not recommended for the novice drafter. The structures it demands are not intuitive, and mistakes in the process will leave exploitable opportunities for an opponent. This is simply the nature of a Pokémon whose strongest asset is multiplying the value of its team mates; draft effectively and cohesively and no draft will feel as well suited to take on any opponent in the hands of a deft pilot.


Salamence

Salamence is unique among first pick options in that it has no truly optimal partners as, much like its flying brethren Zapdos, the main feature that defines Salamence is flexibility. Often drafted late in the first round, Salamence structures are based on developing in the direction borne out by its second pick, but this flexibility offers many possible routes for a draft to take. Salamence structures can have several focuses: they can orient offensively in much the same way as the earlier Metagross Water Breaker structure, they can be highly effective orienting around Spikes with a physical Salamence waiting to clean up the wreckage, and defensive builds greatly appreciate the Intimidate and Fighting resistance Salamence offers as long as they take care not to build too passively.

Salamence Common Second Pick Structures:

• This is the quintessential Spikes Midrange pairing. A tournament winning list provides the structure this pair works best with: a Spikes abuser (), a sturdy Rock resist (), a rock-solid BoltBeam answer (), a flexible Spinblocker (), and a powerful mixed breaker (). In this context the strategic aim is clear; using a pivot based defensive approach maximizes the impact of forced switches to accumulate Spikes damage and create a winning end game for either Salamence or the Spikes abuser.
• The backbone of any Salamence balance, the team support provided by paralysis support, Wish passing, Clericing, and the all important BoltBeam resist makes for a natural pairing with the Intimidating Fighting resist of Salamence. These two are often paired with Milotic by drafters seeking to build an unbreakable trio; however, this structure is uniquely passive among Salamence drafts and must be careful to build in clear methods of making progress into an opposing team, over and above the natural fit with Spikes ( is a natural partner that aligns well with the pace and Fire resistances of this trio). A team that builds unthinkingly will find itself unable to break down the opponent and slowly be positioned into place for the opposing breaker to punch through a hole. A more aggressive Spikes approach with Roar users like is often required, and this is one of the few structures to effectively make use of as a Spikes abuser in a long run setting. Resilient breakers should also be strongly considered, especially with speed, including options like , , , and .
• A difficult structure to make work due to the lack of overt defensive synergy between Starmie and Salamence and collective vulnerability to BoltBeam attackers. The strength of this structure is the independent power of each Pokémon and strong physically defensive base to start between Intimidate, Rapid Spin, and their respective typings. This pairing should look to build aggressively and strongly desire Spikes to take advantage of the heavy pivoting this pair will bring. A strong BoltBeam tank is a necessity, whether by typing like or stats like . This structure must orient around a bulky offense trade based strategy, as it does not have the defensive profile to play a long game; Salamence and Starmie are both exceptional at winning simplified end games, so Exploders, speed control, and bulky Traders are strong partners.
• Other Options: Salamence is happy to pair with any first round pick that may fall to it in the early second. Although rare, Raikou and Salamence are possibly the deadliest start to a Hyper Offense structure there is in the style of Mixed Offense Slop, and Metagross and Salamence are a perfect pair for a Bulky Offense structure. Salemence and Celebi share a devastating Ice weakness, but there are few things more effective at taking advantage of a Calm Mind or Swords Dance boost passed to it than Salamence. If taking Salamence earlier in the first round, partners such as , , and may be effective defensive pairings to kick start a more defensive build.

Salamence is in many ways the ideal first pick to take near the end of the first round as its flexibility ensures a strong and resilient starting position. The Salamence drafter must take care to draft with intention however, as the consequence of the flexibility it offers brings with it a lack of clarity in optimal build direction. In this way, Salamence rewards the creative drafter. Approach its team build with an open mind and a clear direction and it has the ability to take down a tournament in the right hands.


Skarmory

Skarmory is the proverbial box ticker. By virtue of the roles it fulfills it is at the same time the most freeing and most constraining of the typical first pick options. As a physical wall with no physical type weaknesses it invalidates the offensive options of half of the metagame, making it much easier to build a cohesive team without compensating for various defensive flaws. Physical attackers are forced to run janky movesets or else allow Skarmory free reign to set Spikes, and with the limited movepools in ADV this invariably results in severe trade offs to that Pokémon’s potential. Hidden Power is a common choice of coverage move for special and physical attackers alike, but this enables Skarmory to punish this choice with Counter, already a useful option for Pokémon with the physical strength to push through Skarmory’s defenses.

The corollary of the team building freedom Skarmory brings is the limitation imposed: by drafting Skarmory you are staking your claim as a Spikes abusing draft. In one sense this is a blessing, Spikes are rare and powerful, and claiming the most reliable setter of them is a boon. In another, this brings responsibility, constraining the team options it can take to effectively make use of its Spikes.

Skarmory drafts must be built for flexibility. A Skarmory draft that pigeonholes itself into one team style is a draft that can be abused - Stall in particular. Skarmory drafts should be able to support two of the following sets:

• Bruiser Skarmory: builds that balance consistent Spikes with Attack invested coverage to manage opposing threats.
• Suicide Spiker: frailer builds that place Spikes as a priority above all else and spend Skarmory’s health liberally in the process.
• Wall: builds that maximize for longevity, laying Spikes repeatedly over the course of a game and maximizing for defensive resilience.

The key strategic implication of drafting Skarmory is that more than any other Pokémon it uses its health as a resource. With complete immunity to passive damage and sheer bulk, Skarmory can act in ways no other Pokémon can and recover the damage taken over time, and the teams that build must take this into consideration.

Unlike the other first picks, Skarmory drafts focus more on roles than specific partners. As with Salamence, Skarmory is happy pairing with any of the other first round picks that may fall to it, and can create a coherent draft with nearly any second pick. Instead of common partners, we will instead discuss Skarmory building from a more strategic lens.

Common Skarmory Build Principles:

• Skarmory uses its health as a resource to accomplish its goals. Partners who can heal it with Wish are highly valued, as are secondary physical checks to reduce the load Skarmory bears.
• Skarmory requires a special backbone to pair with it, either centralized or distributed. Do not draft Skarmory and Blissey together as your first two picks! Although they are powerful if one falls to the third round, taken together first and second they are too passive and will be abused by mixed attacking breakers.
• Spinblockers are not necessary, but greatly contribute to build flexibility. When Skarmory trades its life to set Spikes, a Ghost is necessary to maintain them.
• Combining Skarmory, a Rock type, and a Ghost type creates a near unbreakable physically defensive core. Power threats like Snorlax cannot fit sufficient coverage to touch all three while maintaining the power that makes them threatening.
• Do not draft a secondary Steel type. Skarmory’s existence both obviates much of the value a Steel type brings and encourages an opponent to double down on coverage that would punish it.
• Skarmory cannot win games on its own. Fundamentally, it is an enabler of other Pokémon’s victory conditions. Draft around these win conditions, use Skarmory as the engine that makes other Pokémon’s offense run.
• Draft Spikes abusers. Pokémon such as and struggle elsewhere but fit seamlessly alongside Skarmory.
• Draft a bulky water. Skarmory draws Fire attacks like a moth to a flame, and Water types further help distribute the physically defensive load.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Team Styles and Tempo​

The second thing that will influence the draft you build is an attribute of teambuilding often overlooked; the pace of play your team will operate at, better known in other games as Tempo. Tempo is Speed. Tempo is Control. Tempo is the instrument you play that exerts your will upon the game. Understanding the tempo at which your team will play is crucial to having a full conception of how your team will interact with an opposing team in a given matchup.

In common Pokémon conception, tempo is understood through terms of team styles. Offense, Balance, Stall, these are all expressions of tempo, easily understood. The Offensive team plays fast and loose to overwhelm the opponent, the Stall team plays slow and methodical to whittle down the opponent, and the Balance team strikes a middle ground of valuing flexibility in approach from matchup to matchup. These tenets are applicable to draft as well, however the common Pokémon conception is limited in its scope for how it understands this concept; in this we can look to Magic the Gathering for a key concept of metagame development, “Who is the Beatdown?”

https://articles.starcitygames.com/articles/whos-the-beatdown/

The article linked above will provide a full throated explanation of this concept, but the core tenet is this: in any given matchup there is one player for whom the factors of the matchup favors in a prolonged encounter, one player with superior inevitability to win, and the other player who must take proactive action to break down their opponent before those matchup factors defeat them.

Regardless of the type of team they bring, the player with the favor of inevitability is known as the Control. The Control can be a Stall team, a Balance team, in rare cases even an offense team, but regardless they are the player for whom slowing down the game, switch chains, positioning, and attrition will favor victory. Perhaps this is the player with an End-Game Boss that is difficult for the opponent to handle, or perhaps a team more resilient to passive damage in a defensive struggle, or perhaps just the one better able to weather an exchange of Pokémon trades, this player is most favored by straightforward switches and exchanges playing on the natural outcomes of Pokémon interactions.

The other player is the Beatdown. This player is unfavored by a prolonged battle, they are likely to lose if they seek to play a game of inches. In order to win, this is the player who will push the pace of the match. They will make more aggressive plays, switch more frequently to manipulate positioning, seek out higher risk/reward strategies to overwhelm the opponent knowing that if they allow their opponent to control the game they will lose. This player must find concrete advantages in either the builder or the gameplay, exploiting lines that may be difficult to prepare for to gain an advantage, or else let the natural Pokémon interactions drain away all chance at victory.

The key to this concept is accurately assessing your role in the interaction. You can be the most aggressive or the slowest team in the world but if you mis-evaluate your role you will be likely to lose as your opponent’s game plan finds its way to execute more effectively than your own. Understanding this interaction will drive every level of the teams you build match to match, changing the sets and Pokémon you bring based on which role you fit, but also influences the type of Pokémon you draft. Building a team towards a coherent style will allow you to understand the roles you are more likely to fulfill in a matchup and compensate accordingly, both in targeting picks that support your strategy and ones that have the flexibility to pivot as the matchup demands. To wit, the main reason Hard Stall teams have always failed in draft is the inability to recognize when they must be the Beatdown vs an offense team with the tools to overwhelm them.

With all this said, we can relate this to draft back through the classical lens of Pokémon understanding of team styles. I have identified five common structures of draft teams you are likely to see, and we will discuss each for how their build philosophy comes together, as well as the ways in which they manage tempo. These styles are, broadly: Aggressive Offense, Trade focused Bulky Offense, Spikes based Midrange, Lockdown, and Stall.

Aggressive Offense​

All-out-offense teams aim to play at the fastest tempo they can by design. They stake their claim to the role of Beatdown and throw everything they have at the opponent. Set-up sweepers, Choice Band attacks, powerful mixed attackers, and fast Pokémon are hallmarks of this strategy. Successful drafts toe the line between calculated gambles and defensive irresponsibility, and all or nothing sets that try to take the game in one fell swoop are common. This style aims to win the game in the first 15-20 turns, overwhelming the opponent before they can find their footing.

Bulky Offense​

This structure is defined by its orientation around Trading as a means of making progress. These teams thrive on the concept of winning consistent 1v1s and converting them into winning end game positions, using raw stats to claim a matchup kill before an opponent can. This team style also makes use of Explosion, both as a means to convert 1v1s into 2v1, but also as a means of enforcing tempo, resetting the game state if an opponent threatens to gain too much momentum. This strategy will typically assume the role of the Beatdown, but may shift to the Control as the game progresses. A common hallmark of this strategy is to begin the game with a weaker long term game plan than the opposition but after breaking through an opponent and trading down, ending the game with an unbeatable End-Game-Boss. This style aims to win games in 20-40 turns, manipulating the pace of the game to their favor with their combination of bulk and power.

Spikes Midrange​

The draft analogue to Toxic Spikes Sand structures, Spikes Midrange embodies the concept of Balance as a build philosophy. These teams stake the claim that their combination of type advantages, longevity, and passive damage generation is too significant for an opponent to overcome in the long run. These teams often play the role of the Control in the matchup as a result, containing the most dangerous opposing threats and converting their positioning edge into concrete advantage. These teams do not go all in on defense however and must be able to play the Beatdown as well against more resilient teams that can absorb their passive damage. Given their hybrid approach, they may lack the power necessary to break through a dedicated defense. This style aims to win games in 40-60 turns, using the advantage accrued from Spikes over time to set the table for an unavoidable end game clean.

Lockdown​

These teams are a close analogue to control decks in competitive card games, and most often take the Control role in a match as well. Unlike Spikes Midrange, these teams claim that their ability to manage opposing threats and limit offensive potential is unmatched, combining imposing defensive stat lines with varied team supportive tools to maximize for resiliency in the face of danger. This structure plans for every avenue available to the opposition and prepares a countermeasure, with the end goal that all paths lead to victory, whether through a slow death from one thousand cuts or an opportune moment to cut off the head of the snake. Methodical and determined, this style aims to win the game in 60-80 turns, cutting off every avenue of counterplay before going in for the kill.

Stall​

Stall teams lean heaviest into the role of Control of all, eschewing all ability to play the Beatdown in the matchup to guarantee a winning edge in a long game. These teams maximize every defensive edge they can, claiming the right of defensive ignorance to opposing threats in the face of their sturdy walls. Often passive in nature, Stall will build to render meaningless all possible damage they can take, preventing the opponent from ever making progress. This strength is also their weakness however, as their passivity allows opponents the opportunity to cheat on their builds and bring dedicated breaking sets that would be otherwise unviable. Stall teams do not win quickly, slowly letting their opponent exhaust all resources and willing to play 100+ turn games or PP stall an opponent as necessary.

Skill Expression: Teambuilder vs Gameplay​

Beyond how a given team style engages with tempo, the structural differences of each style also affects where the skill expression of a matchup is most felt. Draft is a closed information environment, meaning that both players know the full range of options available to each other at all times, given sufficient preparation. In practice, this means that a savvy opponent can make use of this information to control the arena the game takes place: in the teambuilder vs in the match itself.

Consider the Stall archetype, most infamous for its approach of ignorance to an opposition’s threats. Although a Stall team must be successfully piloted, it aims to build out clear and consistent responses to every possible option available to an opponent. Pokémon X switches into Pokémon Y every time. Pokémon A dominates Pokémon B in the hazard game. Pokémon J cannot break the recovery loop of Pokémon K. The Stall team desires to operate algorithmically, processing guaranteed responses until the end result is victory. In effect, they aim to decide the game entirely in the team builder with the match result predetermined and the execution left, as they say, as a matter of technique.

Stall is a rather clear example but what about Offense? Perhaps unexpectedly, All-Out-Offense strategies follow a similar philosophy. Although part of their execution may involve aggressive play and switch execution match to match, their strategic aim is to overload an opponent's ability to defend the breadth of threats facing them until one breaks through. Philosophically this is the same desire for skill expression as the stall team. The Offense player maximizes their build for the greatest chance that the opposition cannot defend, and in so doing aims to win the game in the team builder.

In contrast, Bulky Offense and Lockdown shift more of this skill expression to the battle decisions itself. Each team style philosophically builds for concrete advantage in the team builder but their approach to the game depends on the piloting ability of the user to appropriately respond to threats or convert successful trades into advantageous positioning. Spikes Midrange strategies take this approach to the other extreme, using their Balanced team style to have a flexible approach to any situation, and relying most heavily on in game piloting to convert their positional advantage accrual into a win.

This concept matters in how it relates to your decision as a drafter to build with a certain Pokémon or in a certain direction. You must understand where your strengths are as a player and what type of skill expression is best suited to your playing style in order to find a draft build that is right for you. If you consider yourself a strong battler with good instincts and expert analysis you should aim for a build direction that maximizes your skill expression in the battle itself. Conversely if you are not as confident in your skills but believe your teambuilding ability to be a strength, consider an approach that shifts the arena of the game to the builder as much as you can. In this, to know thyself is to know victory.

Threat List​

At this point in the draft you have decided on your first pick or two, and begun to consider both the style of team you intend to play and the possible partners you desire to flesh out your strategy. As important as it is to understand the strengths and capabilities of your draft, it is no less vital to understand the strengths of potential opponents and the tools they will use against you as well. Countless drafts have taken a promising start and converted it to mediocrity by failing to consider the threats to their draft. These drafts inevitably become “check list” drafts, desperately slapping on band-aid attempts to cover for their weaknesses instead of rounding on their strengths - band-aids that rarely hold up against a skilled opponent. The following list comprises my assessment of the most dangerous and highest priority threats in the ADV draft metagame. These will be the enemies that require intentional and specific counterplay in the draft phase; although many can be played around in battle, coming without a tool for the situation is typically an insurmountable handicap. Pokémon or strategies not mentioned on this list may be dangerous as well, but are more likely to have natural checks and answers built into the typical draft structure, or else be able to be played around without risk of immediately losing the game in a given matchup.

High Priority​

Snorlax​

Snorlax requires clear answers to address it or else you risk being run over by a steam roller. A Normal resist is nearly mandatory for all teams - not just for Snorlax but for other Normal types with a Choice Band as well. A combination of Ghost, Rock, Steel types, and Levitators can effectively limit a Snorlax’s offensive threat by stretching its coverage, but is insufficient to be fully secure. Pokémon with access to Encore, Leech Seed, Explosion, and other disabling moves are boosted in value for bolstering a comprehensive Snorlax defense. A team can go without a Normal resist with difficulty - this requires a sturdy physical tank and multiple Intimidates to be successful. It is near impossible to fully counter a Snorlax, but given sufficient tools to combat it Snorlax can be contained.

Common Snorlax checks include:
Physical Tanks:
Physical Walls:
Strong attackers:
Disablers (Leech Seed, Status, Encore, etc):
Utility: Explosion, Intimidate, Charm, Iron Defense, Reflect, Growl,

Tyranitar​

As in OU, the threat of Dragon Dance Tyranitar demands clear and reliable answers. With curated movesets and easier access to tools like Substitute and Endure Salac Berry, defensive counterplay to Tyranitar is a must to prevent a Dragon Dance sweep, aside from its other variety of set options. In exchange, Tyranitar is easier to contain than most threats. A majority of Pokémon are able to fit in either strong Fighting coverage or status effects to make Tyranitar’s life more difficult. As a result, a Tyranitar check typically needs to be able to handle a set up threat once but not twice, and half-checks can take a committee approach to handling Tyranitar. The key to controlling Tyranitar is understanding the limitations of your defensive reach, and not requiring any one Pokémon to carry the task alone, or else be certain of your ability to force it into a trade.

Common Tyranitar checks include:

Rock Resists: (psuedo-Rock resist via sheer bulk)
Bulky Waters:
Breakers:
Utility: Offensive pressure, Fighting type coverage, status spreading, Encore, Intimidate, Phazing, Mach Punch

Stat Pass​

Stat Pass is much less frequently seen as a premier strategy but no less dangerous. When used skillfully it is very difficult to control an opponent who understands how to position their stat booster. Controlling a stat passing opponent requires an understanding of the threat in the teambuilder stage and preparing multiple layers of defensive options accordingly. No individual Pokémon can control a stat pass strategy, but many utility options can.

• Phazing: Roar and Whirlwind are certain answers to Stat Pass with Mr. Mime banned at the cost of giving up an attack. Beware Agility passers carrying Roar themselves as they will phaze you first!
• Encore: Guaranteed to lock down any set up attempt, but does not work if the opponent clicks Baton Pass first. Highly effective when paired with Destiny Bond.
• Lingering statuses: Leech Seed and Perish Song, among others, are maintained through a Baton Pass and will limit the reach of any receiver’s activity.
• Explosion: Strong enough to interrupt any Pass attempt; beware of Substitute!
• Haze: Guaranteed removal of stat boosts.
• Status: Sleep and Paralysis cut a Stat Pass attempt at the knees, Yawn can force awkward play lines particularly when paired with Focus Punch.
• Power: If all else fails, punish the opponents low tempo set up with the biggest hammer you can bring down upon them.

Medium Priority​

Zapdos and Raikou​

Zapdos and Raikou operate in different ways. Zapdos is a technical striker, leveraging its typing and resistances to wear you down with surgical, repeated strikes. Raikou in contrast is a brawler, throwing heavyweight shots and aiming for a knockout before it runs out of gas. The common thread between them is the difficulty in handling high powered Thunderbolts back up by effective coverage and a variety of utility support. What differentiates these two from the top priority threats is that the Pokémon that answer them do so far more firmly; Ground’s immunity and the resilience of the premier special walls are more reliable answers, even if they don’t prevent Zapdos in particular from gaining value in other ways. Defensively the resilient answer to each is a high special defense stat, ideally with a resistance. Both Pokémon can hit hard with coverage but are constrained in what coverage they can run at once. This has led to a strategy of Hidden Power division where a drafter takes, for example, Camerupt and Whiscash to force a Raikou to choose which Hidden Power type it can use. This is an ineffective strategy. The drafting cost to take mediocre Pokémon is simply too high. Aside from the premier special walls, bulky Electric and Grass types are your best to cover a Thunderbolt, as well as to cripple either with Paralysis. Speed control is also effective, and often necessary to limit the value Zapdos can gain using its Baton Pass sets.

Common checks to Zapdos and Raikou include:
Special Walls:
Thunderbolt resisters:
Hidden Power divisors:
Breakers:
Utility: Thunder Wave, Toxic, Encore, Perish Song,

Metagross​

Metagross has a threat level on par or exceeding Snorlax or Tyranitar. Very little can stand in the way of a Metagross that gets a Meteor Mash raise or two, whether Choice Banded or Agility boosted. Two things limit the degree to which Metagross needs to be managed. The first is its speed, the Achilles’ Heel. At base 70, every draft should have multiple Pokémon capable of outspeeding and trading damage - against Metagross a trade is often the best you can get. If a Metagross can be sufficiently weakened it is then safely controlled. The second is the omnipresence of bulky waters. The structure of Draft incentivizes certain roles to be fulfilled defensively. Between Rock types, Fires, Grounds, and Ice Pokémon, normally niche types, almost every draft is guaranteed to have one or two Pokémon that can at least switch into a Metagross Meteor Mash somewhat comfortably. As a result, Metagross rarely runs away with a game without getting Meteor Mash raises. Every draft must have a clear and coherent plan to handle, but every draft will start with the bones of a plan in place.

Common checks to Metagross include:
Bulky Waters:
Bulky Steels:
Fast Special attackers:
STAB Earthquakes:
Utility: Will-O-Wisp, Sleep Powder, Leech Seed,

Dragon Dancers​

The last of the premier set-up sweepers, this grouping consists of Salamence, Gyarados, Dragonite, and to a lesser extent Kingdra and Charizard (Belly Drum). Much like Metagross, this grouping avoids top priority billing by virtue of the natural defense provided by a bulky water. Nevertheless, handling the Dragon Dance threat requires active management to keep controlled. The common theme to the main three is their 4x weakness to Ice and Electric and a general vulnerability to status conditions, a vulnerability which extends to Kingdra and Charizard as well. Checking the Dragon Dancers requires two conditions: one Pokémon (i.e. a bulky water) to reliably switch in, take a STAB attack, and threaten an attack back; and a team constructed to not give free set up opportunities. If every member of the team can threaten a status condition or high damage output or otherwise control the boosts, the Dancers are controlled. If not, they can and will snowball their way to victory.

Common checks to Dragon Dance set-up sweepers include:

Bulky Waters:
BoltBeam Tanks:
Bulky Status Spreaders:
Damage Traders:
Utility: Intimidate, Phazing, Explosion, Encore, Priority (Flail )

Low Priority​

Fighting-type Breakers​

The main feature of Pokémon such as Heracross, Medicham, Hariyama, and Machamp, is the raw power they possess. It is not possible to truly wall these Pokémon, although many Pokémon make valiant efforts, their natural bulk, resistance to status, and set-up options ensure there will always be some method for them to make progress. The reason they are only low priority threats however is their inherent limitations of speed and power. Every Fighting type functions most consistently as a trader, and is reliably answered through the same. Any Pokémon able to stand toe to toe with a Fighter is capable of contributing to a holistic approach to checking them. As long as you have some ability to switch into a Fighting type attack on your team and enough power to quickly trade down, a Fighting type is easily contained. Special mention must be made to Heracross and Medicham, both of whom can sweep unprepared teams with Reversal sets, as can lesser Fighters. Overall, come prepared for powerful physical attackers and you will sufficiently limit the damage they can do.

Common Fighting type checks include:

Skarmory and Blissey Stall​

Every major tournament will have multiple people in the pools phase who draft the “SkarmBliss” combo on the wheel rounds one and two. Like the moon rising in the night sky it is simply an inexorable fact of life. This is an unwise decision. As iconic as Skarmory and Blissey are to the characterization of stall in the Standard OU metagame, they are fundamentally flawed as the first two picks of a draft (though excellent if one falls to third). The reason for this is simple: unlike in Standard OU, a SkarmBliss stall is passive, slow, and above all else, predictable. By specializing so heavily into defense they allow their opposition to curate their offensive strategies specifically to break down the walls. Overload strategies that would never otherwise work become dominating tools of victory - a memorable victory of mine saw me bring minimum speed Charizard with maxed offenses, Flamethrower, Focus Punch, and Dragon Claw to break through such a team. To this point, the most effective breakers of SkarmBliss are mixed attackers. Focus Punch is an extremely available move and a significant number of Special attackers can break SkarmBliss as a result. Explosion is extremely powerful particularly when paired with Fire coverage, as is Belly Drum going over the top of the defensive line. Use your creativity to break these teams, Mean Look Dusclops can trap and PP stall almost anything a stall team can throw at it!

Fast Special Sweepers​

The final major group to account for is how to handle the litany of fast special attackers that roam the upper reaches of ADV draft. Defensively the list for how to handle these is not much different than handling Zapdos or Raikou, the special walls available are the same after all. In most cases simple type matching is sufficient to handle these threats, as is paralysis spreading, but you must familiarize yourself with the set options available to these Pokémon, they can often catch you off guard. A sample of this group is listed below:

• Water/Psychic/Ice/Electric coverage with near immortality from Recover and Rapid Spin.
• Incredibly diverse generalist. Wide special movepool, multiple disruptive options for trading, litany of niche utility moves. Nearly impossible to account for all of its coverage, status, trapping, trading, and disabling options at once.
• Powerful Thunderbolt able to reach deceptive bulk due to its extreme speed stat, effective status spreader and Wish supporter.
• Deadly Calm Mind sweeper, access to Encore skyrockets its threat level entering on would-be checks. Screens and Recover can allow it to find passable bulk.
• SubSeeder and Endeavor trader, smart switching and recovery limits its reach.
• Weaker Alakazam with Baton Pass and Charm access allows for greater team support.
• Viable Electric check and hyper fast Explosion, can Charge to boost its Thunder(bolt) damage.

Other Considerations​

• Spikes: Understand your relationship to Spikes. The following section will explain this in detail.
• Status Management: Be aware of how status conditions affect your team. Does Paralysis or Poison particularly hamper your attackers? Do you have natural healing resilience, or Pokémon with Guts or Natural Cure? Do you have a cleric?
• Stat boosting sweepers: Prepare multiple options within your team to handle lesser set-up sweepers. No one wants to be on the receiving end of a replay like this https://replay.Pokémonshowdown.com/gen3draft-2371201076
• Speed control: Consider the range of speeds your team can reach and how it intends to handle faster threats. Base 80 is the critical speed benchmark in ADV Draft, as a rule of thumb all drafts should have at least one or two Pokémon capable of clearing that range due to the significant number of powerful attackers at that mark. Base 100 is also valuable for limiting the ability of opposing fast Pokémon to cheat on their EV spreads. In particular, the base 115 tier includes and and both are significantly more dangerous when allowed to run a Modest nature. Beyond base speed, access to Paralysis inducing moves is another form of speed control that compensates for slower drafts, as is access to Explosion, with the forced trade resetting the tempo of the match and stabilizing a vulnerable position.

To Spike or not to Spike?​

With all else taken into account, the final strategic consideration as you build your team is how your team will relate to Spikes. This is not as intuitive as it may first seem - for many players they take the checklist approach, grab a spinner, grab a spiker, and off to the pub for a drink. This approach ignores two fundamental facts: first, that the supply of competent spikers and spinners is necessarily limited by the format; and second, that different team styles exploit their strengths in different ways and thus have different strategic needs in how they consider Spikes within their structure. Broadly speaking, all teams can be categorized into three categories, and understanding how the structure you are building relates to those categories will inform the needs you have as a team. These categories are: Spikes Abusing teams, Spikes Denying teams, and Spikes Agnostic teams.

Spikes Abusing teams are the most straightforward in concept, these teams directly aim to use the passive damage accumulation from Spikes as part of their game plan to defeat an opponent. The primary distinction of these teams is that Spikes are required for their structure to function. A mid range team relies on the passive damage accumulation to give impact to the type advantages they exploit to force switches. An offensive team relies on the chip damage to make their attacking damage sticky as they wear down their checks. A stall team slowly wears down an opponent while maintaining their health. However, not all teams with Spikes can be called Spikes teams. Consider a Hyper Aggressive team or a team focused around Explosions. What additional value does Spikes add when the Explosion is dealing 120%+ to an opponent? What value does the accumulated Spikes damage bring when the Hyper Offense team is ending its games in 20 turns? Determining if you are a Spikes abusing team is intertwined with your understanding of your team’s tempo, and the methods by which you make progress into an opponent.

Spikes Denying teams are similarly straightforward in concept on the surface, yet equally complex under the hood. Many teams draft a Rapid Spinner to deny Spikes, but for many of these teams this is simply a convenience, valuing the other traits of the spinner for their own merits. A Spikes Denying team is one that understands that its methods of beating an opponent rely on breaking their team before being worn down. Bulky Offense and Control teams are common Spikes Denying teams. In the former case, the Traders that a Bulky Offense team employs rely heavily on their natural bulk to accomplish trades and are often slower, necessitating taking chip damage on switch entries. These teams are significantly hampered by the effective bulk reduction Spikes enacts. Control teams follow the same principle from the other side of the coin, their resilience and bulk is made more vulnerable when switching through Spikes and managing this aspect of the game is prioritized accordingly. These teams do not just draft a Spinner for the sake of having one, but because having a Spinner is a core part of their overall game plan. Top spinners like Blastoise and Donphan should be targeted earlier in a draft for the scarcity of the value they offer - nothing else can be as sure of controlling this aspect of the game than a Foresight Rapid Spinner, for example.

Spikes Agnostic teams stake the claim that they are indifferent to Spikes, and prioritize neither Spikes nor Rapid Spin, though they may have incidental access to either. This strategy is rarely consciously considered, often to the detriment of the offensive player. Defensively this concept is easily understood in analogue to the Superman team structure, such teams have the luxury of ignoring Spikes completely for the minimal effect they have upon the team. But this is also true for many aggressive offensive teams that operate at such a fast tempo that Spikes do not have enough time to accumulate damage to matter. Consider again the example of the Explosion based team or the Hyper Offense team. Such a team might be entirely grounded and take Spikes on every switch, but the damage Spikes can do is only as effective as the amount of switching performed. An aggressive team trading down an opponent or an Explosion team resetting the game state might only switch six or seven times in a game; even if that opposing Spiker lays Spikes the first turn at the cost of their life the Spikes damage may not even add up to 100% in aggregate before any healing is considered. These teams can allow an opponent to click Spikes freely because one way or another the game will be over before they can become decisive.

Understanding the strategic implications of how Spikes affects your team will give you significantly increased clarity in your drafting process. Rather than taking a Spiker or Spinner because you “need” to do it, this understanding will make that an intentional choice in your build. As a general rule, if your strategy aims to go over the top of an opponent whether by exploding, set-up sweeping, or just attacking through them, Spikes diminishes in value. In contrast, the more your strategy relies on positioning and incremental accumulation of value, the more valuable Spikes becomes as part of your game plan, and the higher priority it should be given in the draft phase. Combine this understanding with your knowledge of tempo and you will know exactly if, how, and where you should consider drafting your relation to Spikes.




In conclusion, with no factor more important to your success in a tournament than the team you build, understanding all of the factors that affect the drafting process is absolutely necessary to achieve success. You will determine everything about how you approach the tournament through this process; the strategies available to you, the stylistic approach you choose, the type of matchups you will excel and struggle against, the pace of play, and many others. At the end of the draft the most important thing is to walk away with a team that feels like yours, that fits you and your style and that you understand, for even a weaker team will succeed when wielded by a hand that trusts it implicitly.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Team Building in a Draft Environment​

The draft experience is for many people the most enjoyable process of their entire tournament experience, to the point that a subculture has arisen to run mock drafts in between tournaments - nothing quite hits the dopamine receptors like trying out a new strategy when there are no consequences for failure. However, these consequences loom large when it comes time to translate the draft into action. There are many approaches to team building in Draft, some meticulous, some haphazard, but it can often be an arcane process for those unfamiliar with the unique nuances that come from operating in a closed information environment.

In this section I will share the full process that I perform when preparing for an opponent. We will walk through a full team building exercise using my own examples from the first round of the first Hoenn Draft Invitational, and see how this preparation informed the final build and the ultimate result. We will briefly assess the structure of the team I drafted, then progress through each of the steps I follow in my build process: assessing the full spread of options, strengths, and weaknesses for both teams; building the first draft of the team, including identifying win conditions and role assessments; refining the team and validating the strategic approach, as well as fine-tuning EV spreads; and finally putting all of the this preparation into practice in battle, using all the tools at our disposal. By the end of this exercise I hope to have provided a template for one method of how to set yourself up to success when building your team for a matchup.

We will be evaluating the following matchup:

The Team​

First, let’s look at the team we are working with. I was able to draft the prototypical Zapdos structure from the second pick, with Zapdos, Registeel, Hariyama, Blastoise, and Glalie being as close to a perfect starting five as one could hope for. The former four comprise a robust defensive core, and the addition of Glalie gives a clear direction for my team as a Spikes Abusing team, orienting around Zapdos as the main engine for damaging the opposing team. Hariyama plays a dual offensive/defensive role, both entering on and breaking the defensive Pokémon that could wall Zapdos, while also effectively checking Rock types like Tyranitar alongside Blastoise and Registeel. As I can expect to bring the first five Pokémon to every matchup, the final three orient for different situations. Rhydon is a deadly breaker and Agility Pass recipient and is likely to come against defensive teams to break them down. Jumpluff is the quintessential Spikes abuser and will excel in more balanced, drawn out games supporting a Zapdos Spikes win condition. And Jynx threatens offense and defense alike, Sleeping or wearing down special defensive checks for Zapdos while presenting a win condition of its own.

Let us briefly evaluate this team along the axes discussed in the previous section:

• Team style: We are flexible, able to play Aggressive offense, Spikes Midrange, or Lockdown strategies depending on the situation. Zapdos+Jynx special offense strategies can overwhelm opponents with pivoting traders holding the backline, Glalie and Blastoise can control the Spikes game for a Midrange approach with Zapdos and Jumpluff forcing continual switches, and the first four picks are highly resilient and have flexible tools to deny offensive strategies while Controlling the game state for Rhydon to break an opening.
• Tempo: Despite our flexibility, we do not have the greatest longevity and will likely be the Beatdown in most matchups. Our bulk allows us to play at a slower pace but our game plans will revolve around us pressuring the opponent to create an opening for a decisive strike.
• Spikes: We have staked our claim as a Spikes Abusing team, centering our strategy around Glalie. We have the option to play as a Spikes Denying team with access to Rapid Spin, but will only play this role against the most defensive of teams, as our ability to push tempo and Zapdos first pick lessens the pressure against us.
• Threat List:
  • - Registeel and Rhydon check it defensively, Hariyama and Glalie Explosion pressure it offensively, the primary focus is making damage stick on it with Spikes.
  • - Registeel, Hariyama, and Blastoise each qualify as a half-counter, all can specialize to beat it. Any two alive protects from the worst of the danger.
  • Stat Pass - Whirlwind/Roar from Zapdos/Hariyama/Blastoise, Encore from Jumpluff, two Explosions, the threat of Sleep, Taunt Glalie, and Focus Punch and Yawn to pressure switches.
  • and - Registeel is the primary defensive check, minor support offered by Hariyama, Explosion and Thunder Wave offer support.
  • - Blastoise is the primary check, Sub Protect Zapdos PP Stalls Meteor Mash, Registeel discourages Choice Band.
  • Dragon Dancers - Blastoise and Registeel check with coverage and Thunder Wave, Zapdos supports.
  • Fighting types - Zapdos can tank a STAB attack, Jynx forces them out, Hariyama and Blastoise can trade or deny setup. Registeel must have a plan to handle them.
  • Special Sweepers - Registeel controls the majority, Zapdos controls the rest, Blastoise and Hariyama tag team Fire types.

Step 1: Assess the Playing Field​

The first step towards building a team for a given matchup is to assess the options available to both players. As Draft is a closed information environment, both players know every possible choice an opponent can make in their team build and this forms the basis of every decision made in the team builder. This assessment involves identifying: your options, your opponent’s options, your strengths, your opponent’s strengths, and the key threats to your team that require special attention.

Identify Your Options​

This step involves creating a chart or list of all the viable options available to each of your Pokémon. Using a database (my preference is veekun.com), we identify the full set of moves our Pokémon can use, omitting options that are strictly outclassed or without function. When starting out, it is useful to separate these move selections by offensive, defensive, and utility; as you gain experience it may be more helpful to structure the organization by likely set composition or by physical/special split for example.

For our example team, this may look like the below:

Move Options

Offensive: Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Grass / Ice / Fire, Extrasensory, Drill Peck, Thunder, Double-Edge
Defensive: Substitute, Rest, Sleep Talk, Protect, Roar, Light Screen, Endure
Utility: Thunder Wave, Agility, Baton Pass, Metal Sound, Toxic, Mimic, Weather


Offensive: Hidden Power Steel, Explosion, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Superpower, Body Slam, Metal Claw, Ancientpower, Rollout, Seismic Toss, Focus Punch, Return, Aerial Ace, Brick Break, Thunderbolt, Ice Punch, Hidden Power Fire / Grass / Water / Bug
Defensive: Rest, Sleep Talk, Curse, Amnesia, Iron Defense, Safeguard
Utility: Thunder Wave, Toxic, Counter, Psych Up, Weather


Offensive: Brick Break, Cross Chop, Arm Thrust, Focus Punch, Seismic Toss, Reversal, Body Slam, Rock Slide, Earthquake, Hidden Power Ghost / Bug, Return, Rock Tomb, Elemental Punches, Surf
Defensive: Whirlwind, Endure, Bulk Up, Substitute, Rest, Sleep Talk, Weather
Utility: Fake Out, Knock Off, Belly Drum, Counter, Foresight, Mimic, Toxic


Offensive: Surf, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Hidden Power Grass / Electric, Focus Punch, Body Slam, Icy Wind, Seismic Toss, Earthquake, Brick Break, Iron Tail
Defensive: Haze, Refresh, Rest, Sleep Talk, Roar, Protect
Utility: Rapid Spin, Counter, Mirror Coat, Foresight, Yawn, Toxic, Flail


Offensive: Ice Beam, Crunch, Earthquake, Shadow Ball, Explosion, Hidden Power X, Icy Wind, Water Pulse, Body Slam
Defensive: Light Screen, Safeguard
Utility: Spikes, Taunt, Toxic, Sing, Block


Offensive: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Megahorn, Double-Edge, Brick Break, Rock Blast, Reversal, Body Slam, Focus Punch, Fire / Electric / Ice / Water special coverage
Defensive: Substitute, Curse, Rest
Utility: Swords Dance, Toxic, Weather, Counter


Offensive: Hidden Power Flying, Giga Drain, Solar Beam, Aerial Ace, Hidden Power X
Defensive: Substitute, Amnesia, Reflect, Synthesis, Cotton Spore
Utility: Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, Stun Spore, Swords Dance, Encore, Toxic, Sunny Day


Offensive: Ice Beam, Psychic, Water Pulse, Hidden Power X, Seismic Toss, Icy Wind
Defensive: Substitute, Calm Mind, Wish, Light Screen, Reflect
Utility: Lovely Kiss, Mean Look, Perish Song, Fake Tears, Fake Out, Taunt, Thief, Counter

Identify Your Opponent’s Options​

Next, we need to identify the options the opponent has for our team. The process is similar to the previous step, however we want to begin to build a concept of what types of sets an opponent is likely to bring. For example, Snorlax learns Solar Beam but there is never a reason for it to be brought into our team, so it can be ignored in this step. This step can take many forms, however the approach I like to use involves projecting the types of sets an opponent can bring and then identifying plausible move selections for each of those sets. By approaching it this way I can discount preparation space for certain choices which are outclassed or are subsets of other sets. As an example which we will see shortly, I don’t need to prepare for a specifically targeted Tyranitar set of Rock Slide, Hidden Power Flying, Fire Blast, and Thunder Wave, as this will be sufficiently prepared for by default if I have prepared for Choice Band and Mixed Tyranitar sets. As an extension of this process, once I have built out these sets I also begin to map how I will address each of them with my given team members, which begins to help formulate the teambuilding constraints within which we are operating. This process can look like the below:


General move options: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Hidden Power Flying, Double-Edge

• Dragon Dance: Dragon Dance, Substitute
• Choice Band: Focus Punch
• Sub+3 Attacks: Substitute, Focus Punch
• Bulky Attacker: Counter, Thunder Wave
• Mixed: Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Hidden Power Grass

Dragon Dance and Choice Band checked by Blastoise, Mixed and Bulky checked by Hariyama, all sets supported by Registeel.


General move options: Psychic, Thunderbolt, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Hidden Power Grass, Hypnosis, Explosion, Mean Look, Perish Son, Destiny Bond, Counter, Will-O-Wisp, Taunt

• Too many possible set variations to project
  • Assume Psychic due to Hariyama and opponent tendencies
  • Assume Fire Punch likely due to Registeel and Jynx
  • Assume Ice Punch somewhat likely due to Zapdos
  • Assume Thunderbolt lower priority for Blastoise and general attacking
  • Assume Explosion or some other trading move somewhat likely
  • Assume Modest given unlikelihood of Timid Zapdos

Paralysis cripples Gengar, Hariyama and Registeel can face tank damage and hit back, Glalie and Jynx can sacrifice for damage, SpDef invested Zapdos can 1v1 vs Ice Punch.


General move options: Earthquake, Ice Beam, Rock Slide, Focus Punch, Counter

• Endeavor: Endeavor, Roar, Substitute
• Bulky Attacker: Toxic
• Choice Band
• Sub+3 Attacks: Substitute

Zapdos avoids damage and threatens to kill from high health with Hidden Power Grass after checking for Counter, Registeel HP Grass can trade damage, Glalie and Jynx can chip, Blastoise can face tank, Endeavor strategy is unclear and requires adaptation on the fly.


General move options: Spikes, Explosion, Rock Slide, Earthquake, Toxic, Protect, Light Screen, Reflect

• Insufficient set variation.

Damage potential does not justify a specific response, general damage trading is sufficient, Blastoise should bring Rapid Spin to answer Spikes but not prioritize this, Jynx and Substitute Zapdos can abuse Forretress field presence.


General move options: Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, Sludge Bomb, Earthquake, Hidden Power Fire, Hidden Power Grass, Roar

• Specially defensive: Hidden Power Ice
• Physically Defensive
• Fast Offensive Utility
• Swords Dance: Swords Dance, Sludge Bomb, Earthquake

Bring sets that can absorb Sleep Powder, accept Leech Seed passive damage and rely on Sand to make incremental damage stick, Zapdos Drill Peck and Glalie and Jynx Ice Beam threaten power hits, Registeel can wall it short-term.


General move options: Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Thunder Punch, Hidden Power Grass, Substitute, Focus Punch, Toxic

• Insufficient set variation.

Thick Fat Hariyama and Blastoise sufficiently answer most dangerous offensive options. Plausible drop candidate*.
*We will note later that this assessment proved to be incorrect.


General move options: Surf, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Hidden Power Grass, Rain Dance, Substitute, Leech Seed, Seismic Toss

• Rain Dance
• SubSeed

Communal defensive response. Registeel primary answer for Rain Dance tanking, accept Leech Seed passive damage and rely on Sand to wear it down. Registeel / Hariyama / Zapdos / Jynx can reliably outdamage.


Offensive / Support options are non-threatening. The only value added is Heal Bell. Cannot tank special defensive hits without Calm Mind, limiting ability to hit Registeel. No specific preparation required, if it comes it implies heavy Rest usage and stall focus for the remainder of the team.

Evaluate the Matchup​

The third step of assessing the playing field involves evaluating the opponent’s strengths into your team, your strengths into your opposing team, and the key threats that they bring that must be addressed. This process builds on the set identification of the previous step and establishes the team building constraints that exist before beginning to build your team. This stage also begins to inform the Beatdown vs Control axis, based on the relative value of each team's strengths and threat structure.

First, let’s establish the opposing team’s strengths, as this will give us a clearer picture of the matchup constraints. First and foremost they have a massive edge in passive damage. Sand, Spikes, and Leech Seed all present a clear strategic edge in wearing down our team. With no Grass immunities we can only compete on Spikes with Glalie and Blastoise, but it's clear that neither can triumph in a protracted encounter. This is compounded by their second advantage in overall bulk. In Venusaur and Swampert the opponent has two particularly bulky Pokémon with sustainable recovery and the option to add a third in Ludicolo. When paired with effective type resistance profiles in Forretress and Gengar, it will be difficult for our team to score many clean OHKOs. The third edge is the threat of Tyranitar. Although we have sufficient defensive resources to handle it we do not have a clear cut counter. If we do not sufficiently manage our resources any space we give or Rock Slide flinch attained could result in a sweep. The final strength is Gengar. As evidenced in the previous section we do not have a clear answer and the set variety it brings is immense. Regardless of set it has the coverage and utility to place us under significant pressure.

Next, let’s identify the factors that we bring to the table as potential win conditions. Immediately, Zapdos presents an obvious and powerful threat to the opposition. A simple set of Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Grass, and either Drill Peck or Extrasensory scores multiple super effective hits on the opposing team while being unresisted. We also have an edge in speed; although Gengar and Typhlosion compete at the top end, the opposing bulky core is distinctly slower than Zapdos, Glalie, or Jynx, allowing us more flexibility in how we allocate our bulk. Jynx is also a highly dangerous threat, both with a mono attacking Ice Beam set or with spread coverage, outspeeding most of the opposing team and threatening OHKOs. Our final strength is the overall bulk of our defensive core. Nothing on the opposing team can easily threaten heavy hits on Registeel, Hariyama, or Blastoise, allowing us time to execute our game plan.

The final step is to identify the key factors to prioritize in mitigating the opposing strengths. This matchup presents the following:

1. Tyranitar: A Dragon Dance / Earthquake / Rock Slide / Double-Edge set threatens massive damage into the entire team and can threaten to sweep a weakened position. We must implement a multi-layered defense and ensure that no team member can be taken advantage of for a setup opportunity.
2. Passive damage: We do not have the team structure to answer Sand and Leech Seed, so we must have counterplay into Spikes. We must elect a strategy that either focuses on Spikes denial, pressuring Forretress and Gengar offensively, or on dedicated Spikes removal with Foresight. As we are the Beatdown, the latter option will be difficult to execute.
3. Endeavor Swampert and Gengar: We do not have clear answers to either Pokémon. Wherever possible, we should build counterplay into our sets to minimize the free turns we grant to these Pokémon.

At this stage I engage in a step which is the hardest to translate to the reader, essentially staring at the matchup for 30-40 minutes until the “shape” of the matchup becomes clear. The “shape” in this sense means considering all of the aforementioned factors, the strengths, the constraints, the expected teams, and slowly integrating them into a holistic model of the matchup factors to define what the strategic approach should be. In most cases I aim for strategies that minimize the risk profile the opposition can present, aiming for a measured and reliable breakdown of the opposition, but this is not always a sustainable approach. In some cases the matchup is so poor or a threat so strong that it necessitates building for a higher level of risk, shifting the approach of a Control or Midrange style team to an aggressive offense with high-risk sets because for whatever reason the strengths of our team are not sufficient to match up into the opposition.

Comparing the two sets of strengths in this matchup, the suggested outcome is that we take on the role of the Beatdown in the matchup. Our offense hits harder and faster and we cannot outlast the opposing residual damage, so our build strategy will orient around supporting this approach.

Step 2: Building Your Team​

Now that we have assessed the playing field and determined the options available to us, we can begin building our team. Much of the assessment we have performed in the previous step will inform our building process along the way. First, we will review the most likely sets the opponent will begin and which of those sets impose constraints on the teambuilding options available to us. Next, we will determine which team members will be most valuable in the matchup and assign roles to each, defensive needs, offensive threats, utility support, and traders and progress makers. We will then establish a preliminary game plan and win conditions to build around, before building a first draft of our team. Once we have built our first draft we will begin to refine the build, considering whether the team is working as intended and whether the preliminary game plan chosen is the right approach to the matchup. Finally we will use calculations, mock battles, and mental models to prepare for the battle and curate the team down into its final form.

Role Assessment​

To recap, we have established that our opponent is likely to bring the following:

• A physical Tyranitar, likely Dragon Dance with some chances of Choice Band or a bulky attacker
• A hyper flexible special attacking Gengar, almost certainly with Fire and Psychic coverage plus some combination of utility moves, and Ice or Electric coverage
• Either a bulky attacking Tank Swampert or an Endeavor breaker
• A basic Spiking Forretress
• A bulky Sleep Seed Venusaur, likely specially defensively invested.
• A bulky Leech Seed Ludicolo, likely specially defensively invested, with some possibility of a Rain Dance sweeper.
• Likely to bench, a generic special attacking Typhlosion
• Almost certain to bench, a Heal Belling Chimecho.

Of these options, Dragon Dance Tyranitar is such a significant threat that we must dedicate defensive resources spread across Blastoise, Hariyama, and Registeel to cover it as it gains free turns on the other team members. Gengar’s coverage means we cannot reliably wall it and so must tailor our sets and spreads to cover it. And we must build the team to be able to effectively trade in all situations in order to handle defensive Sleep Seeders as well as Swampert. We will begin building our team assuming that Jumpluff and Rhydon will bench; Jumpluff because the opponent plays its passive damage strategy better than us, and Rhydon because of the diverse defensive profile making it difficult for it to find entry points with a clear tank in Swampert to force it out.

Let us now consider the roles we need each of our Pokémon to play in the matchup, what individual matchups each is required to fill and begin to consider the moves required to accomplish each role, creating an outline of our initial build.

• (Preliminary moveset: Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Grass, Drill Peck, Substitute)
  • Relatively unconstrained defensively. Needs some special defensive investment to effectively duel Swampert and HP Ice Venusaur, may want a lot of investment to duel Rain Dance Ludicolo and Gengar, but otherwise free from responsibility.
  • Primary offensive threat. Preliminary moveset hits everything for super effective or neutral damage. Drill Peck is chosen over Extrasensory to cover both Venusaur and Ludicolo specially defensive sets.
  • Orients around Spikes abuse. Trades with anything and wears down switch ins quickly, Substitute abuses turns against Forretress or the Grasses clicking Spikes or a status move.
• (Preliminary moveset: Psychic, Ice Beam, Hidden Power Fire, Lovely Kiss)
  • No defensive responsibility. Only meaningful interactions are Gengar Fire Punch and Venusaur Sludge Bomb, consider investment to cover these interactions.
  • Primary breaker. The attacking triad hits perfect coverage and threatens OHKOs on Gengar, Forretress, and Venusaur. Lovely Kiss provides an emergency button to escape a perilous situation.
  • Sleep offers better upside than Substitute as primary answers will simply attack or outspeed. Mono attacking set is unlikely to be as effective, Ice Beam is functional but inviting Forretress as a defensive response is counterproductive.
• (Preliminary moveset: Seismic Toss, Hidden Power Grass, Superpower, Thunder Wave)
  • Defensive responsibility for controlling Tyranitar and Gengar. Both can threaten heavy damage with coverage, so a trading approach is taken. Superpower guarantees 2HKO into all Tyranitar sets, limiting Dragon Dance setup, while Thunder Wave pseudo-KOs Gengar.
  • Consequently, we take an offensive role as a trader. HP Grass ensures no Swampert sets can abuse Registeel entries and Seismic Toss offers consistent chip damage into Forretress and the Grasses to limit their progress.
  • Thunder Wave significantly accelerates breaking progress into Leech Seed Venusaur and Ludicolo.
• (Preliminary moveset: Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Toxic, Rapid Spin)
  • Defensive responsibility to control the Spikes game and offer defensive responses to Swampert and Tyranitar. Vulnerable to Grass entries.
  • Controls defensive responsibilities through offensive pressure. Hydro Pump can threaten Torrent OHKOs on Tyranitar giving it an edge over Surf, as well as more effectively pressure Forretress and limit Gengar’s spinblocking ability. Ice Beam offers trading options into Venusaur.
  • Toxic covers a Ludicolo entry from freely abusing Blastoise.
• (Preliminary moveset: Spikes, Ice Beam, Hidden Power Fire, Explosion)
  • No defensive capability.
  • Ice / Fire coverage outputs pressure into all projected opponents, chips opposition into Explosion trading range.
  • Establishing a single Spike layer accelerates Zapdos damage output significantly under Sand.
• (Preliminary moveset: Brick Break, Fire Punch, Knock Off, Hidden Power Ghost)
  • Defensively required to threaten all Tyranitar setup attempts with an OHKO, and threaten any Gengar entries with trading damage. Thick Fat covers any unexpected Typhlosion brings.
  • General damage trader offensively, aiming to chip down Swampert and Venusaur and consistently pressure Forretress.
  • Knock Off accelerates damage progress under Sand.

With an initial outline created we can create a preliminary game plan to approach the matchup. Based on the role assessment we just performed, we can identify the following:

1. Zapdos and Jynx are the primary offensive win conditions. Both threaten everything on the opposition team, both take advantage of Spikes to make damage sticky, and both wear down each other’s checks. Establishing a Spike and generating entry points for both will lead to consistent game state progress.
2. Hariyama and Registeel are difficult to wall. Neither can consistently break opponents and both have weaknesses to various defensive type combinations as well as Leech Seed, but each can put consistent damage output into the enemy team when in play.
3. Blastoise, Hariyama, and Registeel must share the load of controlling Tyranitar. Blastoise has Spin related responsibilities and is weak into the Grasses, so cannot carry this load alone; similarly Hariyama and Registeel lack the longevity necessary to maintain their defensive coverage throughout the game.
4. We are intentionally giving ground into Sleep Powder+Leech Seed as a combination, and must account for this edge in the opposing team.

First Draft​

We are now ready to build the first draft of our team. As noted, we have assigned preliminary movesets to help shape the structure of our build based on what makes sense as an overview assessment. We will do the same with the EVs we assign. At this early stage all Pokémon inputs should be considered flexible. They will be informed by your team assessment and initial game plan, but the process of building will begin to illuminate gaps in the assessment that require further refinement. Let’s take a look at what the first draft of this build looked like:

• is placed in the lead slot to counter opposing lead Tyranitar and Forretress aiming to set up Sand and Spikes. Brick Break is the general damage dealing STAB and HP Ghost allows Hariyama to trade with Gengar, while Bulk Up takes advantage of a Forretress clicking Spikes and sets up a powerful Focus Punch if it switches. Lum Berry helps check against a Venusaur switching in and threatening Sleep Powder. The EV spread allows it to take a +1 HP Flying from Tyranitar after Spikes and Sand as well as a Rock Slide flinch into Earthquake, and also allows it to more comfortably take a Psychic from Gengar. The speed creeps minimum investment Swampert.
• runs the preliminary set with a Lum Berry for easier play into Venusaur and Hypnosis Gengar. The speed investment hits 246 to creep a Venusaur aiming to beat a Zapdos aiming to beat max speed Tyranitar, the remainder oriented for power.
• takes a hybrid offense/defense role, maintaining the preliminary moveset. Hydro Pump and 160 special attack EVs guarantees an OHKO on max HP Tyranitar from Torrent range as well as significantly increasing pressure ranges on Gengar, Swampert, and Forretress. 96 Defense EVs and Bold allows it to take a TTar Rock Slide plus a +1 Rock Slide.
• optimizes for breaking, speed creeping Jolly Tyranitar creep and ensuring Thunderbolt+Drill Peck KOes max SpDef Ludicolo after Sand.
• maintains the preliminary set. The special attack investment 3HKOs standard defensive Swampert after Leftovers and Protect recovery, while the special defense makes Timid Gengar Fire Punch a 4HKO. Minor attack investment buffs Superpower damage into Tar.
• straightforwardly speed creeps Max Speed Venusaur and invests for special sweeping otherwise.

For many people the build process stops here. A team is made, looks good to go, let’s bring it to a game! These people do not often succeed in tournaments. The first draft is just that, the first thing you build, but it's the process of the refinement that takes a team from passable to great, the difference from needing to outplay your opponent to win to your team doing the heavy lifting. The real meat of the team building process comes from refinement.

Refinement​

Refining a team build is as much an art as a science. It is not a trivial thing to be able to poke and prod at your creation and find the weak spots to correct, or even to scrap the build all together if the house of cards threatens to fall, but it is a trainable skill. Broadly speaking, there are two main areas of focus for refining a team: Cohesion and Game Plan.

Evaluating your team cohesion takes two forms, the conceptual and the practical. At a conceptual level this means considering whether the team you have put together is actually accomplishing the things you want it to do. In our example team we have identified Gengar as a high priority threat to manage. One way to evaluate our cohesion is to ask: “Are the sets I have chosen sufficiently pressuring Gengar and limiting its sweeping potential?” This also means questioning if the game plan makes sense, for example: “Is it a smart idea to try and sweep through a Tyranitar with a Zapdos and Jynx that only carry STAB attacks to hit it?”. If the game plan cannot be justified, it is an indicator to reformulate your approach to the matchup. If, as in this case, the plan can be justified by Tyranitar’s inability to take more than one attack with Spikes up and a robust defensive response, it is an indicator to proceed.

Evaluating team cohesion at a practical level involves taking the team you have built and putting it through its paces, either through mock battles or through exhaustive calculations and modeling of potential battle lines. This is entirely a matter of taste, preference, and social circles. The author does not mock battle at all, preferring to conceptualize the entire battle in a mental model, informed by calculations, but many people set up mock battles with their friends to more clearly tease out how their sets will perform in a live fire situation. This can be particularly effective at identifying surprise sets if you are less adept at mapping them out in the planning phase, and both players can benefit from the training opportunities. Beware, however, the risk of exposure bias, overweighting the likelihood of your opponent bringing a certain set that your mock partner favors and discounting other plausible sets as a result.

Assessing your game plan takes both of these principles and builds on it, taking the higher level view of the situation. We must question whether the game plan we have chosen makes sense for the matchup. In our example we have chosen a Bulky Offense strategy, using Spikes and defensive pivots to trade down and open space for our two breakers. We can ask: “Would we be better suited by adopting a different strategy? Do we need to take a more aggressive approach to outpace our opponent’s breakers or refocus on defense to control their sweepers?” If our team cohesion is lacking it can help prod a reassessment of the game plan, potentially triggering an entirely different strategic approach to the matchup. We must also question if the team build is not just cohesive, but coherent. With the game plan set we should take each team member, each move, each EV choice and ask if it is contributing to the overall game plan we have chosen.

In our example, discussion and evaluation with friends led to us reassessing a number of aspects of the team (building with friends is encouraged by this author, as every builder has blind spots they will overlook, but it is recommended to limit this to 2-3 people at most so as to keep the intent of the team focused). Several team members were more limited in how they could be adapted, but our assessment led to the following conclusions:

• The initial Zapdos set placed too strong an emphasis on offense. Certain benchmarks are valuable, but we can add a significant amount of Special Defense investment without much cost.
• Hariyama’s item choice of Lum Berry is rather superfluous when Guts is a viable ability. Venusaur threatens Sleep, but Guts activates under Sleep making Sleep Talk a viable move option.
• The Hariyama set is also rather speculative, hoping for best case scenario situations into lead Forretress and Tyranitar. RestTalk would be an ideal set for the matchup but has unresolvable coverage issues into Gengar and Venusaur. Knock Off is an attractive option, making Sand passive damage that much more damaging into the opposing defenses.
• Our calculations have all assumed Timid Offensive Gengar. However, we have little incentive to run Max Speed Zapdos, so it is highly likely we will face Modest Gengar, and our defensive calculations are therefore flawed. This particularly was noted by a friend supporting the build, and would prove to be crucial to the final build.
• Specially defensive Zapdos is a significant help in controlling Modest Gengar.
• Registeel not being able to damage Gengar is a problem. Finding an effective set is difficult as it requires conceding a matchup somewhere, Forretress in particular is a concern.
• Registeel needs to prioritize Tyranitar and Gengar as the most dangerous opposing threats. Seismic Toss is sufficient coverage for Forretress and the Grass types, and Explosion helps cover end game scenarios.
• Leech Seed will be significantly more effective into Registeel without Thunder Wave. As a result, we will structure our game plan around keeping Registeel in reserve, controlling late-game threats. Blastoise and Hariyama will be allowed to be more liberal with their HP while managing Tyranitar.
• Blastoise will lead instead of Hariyama. The immediate option to Spin is more effective into lead Forretress, and Hydro Pump is as effective at dissuading lead Tyranitar. Toxic will land into any early Ludicolo entries.

The result of our revisions, and several iterations of team builds, led to a final draft that looked like this:

The team is ordered by the intended phase of the game. Blastoise leads and intends to get off early game damage trading using its flexible moveset. Glalie enters early and sets Spikes, firing off chip damage where it can. Hariyama and Zapdos control the middle game, acting as defensive and offensive pivots respectively. Zapdos finds opportunities to output heavy damage and break down the opposition while Hariyama controls the tempo and adds in chip damage where it can. Registeel stands by in reserve for the late game once the more resilient threats have been weakened, keeping a strong defensive line for any sweeper that may try to break through. And Jynx waits in the wings for the right opportunity to enter and push towards a game winning sweep.

We performed some crucial modifications to the team as a result of these revisions. Blastoise revised its EV spread to 252 HP / 132 Def / 124 SpA. The special attack investment still offered an 80% chance of an OHKO into Max HP Tyranitar with Torrent Hydro Pump, but improved the roll on +1 Rock Slide to a 46% 2HKO, further insuring against the risk of a flinch. The special attack maintained a 3HKO on Forretress and guaranteed an OHKO with Torrent Hydro Pump on Gengar after Sand damage. Hariyama shifted some EVs from Special Defense to Defense in order to better take Tyranitar flinches while sacrificing little into Gengar, but the main change was to the moveset. Brick and Ghost were retained, but Knock Off and Sleep Talk were better optimized for taking advantage of Sand damage and responding to Venusaur. Zapdos changed to invest significantly in Special Defense which ensured that it could switch in on a Gengar’s Modest Thunderbolt and still survive an Ice Punch if it needed to, while retaining the majority of the offensive benchmarks. And finally Registeel was revised to drop Thunder Wave and HP Grass for Explosion and HP Ghost. Swampert and Venusaur were conceded strategically, maintaining only Seismic Toss as direct damage, but Explosion added a distinct control tool for unexpected situations where a tempo reset was required. The Special Defense EVs allowed Registeel to switch into Modest Gengar Thunderbolt with Spikes down and survive two additional Fire Punches while the Defense EVs gave it passable odds to take a +0 Tyranitar Earthquake and later an additional +1 Earthquake. The Attack investment finally guaranteed 2HKOs into all variations of Bulky Tyranitar as well as reaching KO ranges with minimal Spikes or chip damage. With all the refinements concluded, we are ready to take the team into battle.

Step 3: Putting Your Plan Into Practice​

At long last we come to the final step of the drafting process, taking everything we have learned and bringing it all together to the end goal itself: winning the battle. An in-depth guide to battling strategy is beyond the scope of this guide and other resources exist to provide that information to the reader. However, there are a few key differences in the draft metagame that I can provide. Firstly, it cannot be understated the value of information. It has been stated time and again in this guide that Draft is a closed information environment. This tenet applied in the building phase and is no less true in the battling phase. You still know every possible option an opponent can bring into you, and every Pokémon and set revealed narrows that subset of unpredictability near to nothing. Just as you know what your opponent’s threats and checks are into you, so too do they into themselves. Take advantage of this. Understand the constraints in which your opponent is operating within, the pieces they feel compelled to preserve, and convert that into advantage by reading a “forced” switch and making the aggressive prediction. These information asymmetries abound within each matchup. At the same time, Keep It Simple. You have built your draft plan around a key purpose and strategic goal, and oriented your build and sets accordingly. Trust in the process that has brought you to this point and the preparation you have made. Make the necessary predictions and in-battle decisions, but keep in mind the goals and function of each team member; do not ask them to perform a task beyond the scope of their goals without having a backup plan in place.

To conclude our team building process, we will present a replay analysis of the matchup we have been examining, to see how our build and strategic aims played out in practice under live fire conditions. The raw replay footage can be found at the following link: https://replay.Pokémonshowdown.com/gen3draft-2526063292

Turn 1

Oh no! This was not the lead matchup we predicted, and right away we see our opponent is on a different team building wavelength than us. With hindsight, CG12 clearly intended to anti-lead our Glalie with Fire STAB, just as we anti-leaded their Tyranitar and Forretress. The lead matchup favors us but this presents a big problem as we elected to use Guts Hariyama instead of Thick Fat, cheating on the Typhlosion matchup. This Typhlosion now presents a serious threat to manage, so I click Hydro Pump despite expecting a switch, as mispredicting into this Typhlosion can be a serious problem. We further realize that something in our team prep is no longer an option for the opponent, likely either Ludicolo or Swampert.

Venusaur switches in on the Hydro Pump as expected, then clicks Substitute as we switch to our Lum Glalie. Glalie breaks the Sub with Ice Beam as Venusaur Leech Seeds, then we lay a Spikes as CG12 goes back to Typhlosion, which Substitutes as we bring Blastoise back in.

Turn 7

Our hubris is brought to light as CG12s plan is revealed - a Sub Toxic set is an effective way to break down Pokémon without recovery. This was a risky strategy, Typhlosion would have been completely useless if we had brought Thick Fat Rest Hariyama, but it is paying off in spades now. This Typhlosion has become enemy number 1, and I am forced to fire off Hydro Pumps into the Substitute as taking damage anywhere else is too much of a sacrifice defensively. Blastoise is the most expendable member of our team, both having been Toxiced and within our team strategy of using it to break open a hole. Over the next four turns we are fortunate as our Hydro Pumps all connect to break the Subs.

Turn 11

On this turn I take some time to calculate and evaluate the first critical turn of the matchup. Typhlosion has revealed Sub Toxic and can be assumed to carry a Fire STAB but the fourth move is unrevealed. However, although Typhlosion could feasibly go without coverage for Blastoise, the presence of Rhydon on our team is an extra incentive to run Hidden Power Grass. We calculate that Blaze boosted Flamethrower cannot KO Blastoise from this range and successfully switch Hariyama in on a HP Grass that deals only 23%.

This risk preserves Blastoise as a sacrifice for later in the game, valuable in a situation where anything coming into Typhlosion after a KO would have to take a follow up attack regardless. Typhlosion switches out on Venusaur, preserving itself, and Venusaur takes 20% from the incoming Brick Break. I stay and click Hidden Power for 24% to scout the opposing move and absorb Sleep but the Venusaur elects to Leech Seed. With Venusaur having passed up several opportunities to click Sleep Powder I feel more comfortable with the possibility of it not having the move and make an aggressive switch out to Zapdos to threaten a KO with Drill Peck; however the Venusaur Substitutes instead.

Turn 15

At this point the opening phase of the game has concluded and we are entering the mid game. Both sides have achieved some strategic goal: our Blastoise is nearly dead and likely only useful as a sacrifice, while in exchange we have laid a Spike and achieved significant damage into two of the enemy Pokémon. The next several turns will play a significant impact on the outcome.

I click Substitute as a relatively riskless scouting move and am rewarded as the Venusaur Leech Seeds into the Substitute. We reveal Drill Peck, breaking the Sub, as Venusaur breaks our own Sub with HP Ice. Threatened with a KO by Drill Peck, Venusaur switches out to Forretress, a move we predict and take advantage of by Substituting on the switch. Zapdos Thunderbolts Forretress for 48% while it breaks our Sub with Hidden Power Rock, then we make another aggressive prediction and Substitute again as the Forretress clicks Spikes. I Thunderbolt twice more to take down the Forretress as it breaks our Sub in exchange for its life. An understanding of our opponent’s strategic needs has paid off significantly here, by recognizing the value they placed on Venusaur as a defensive option and Spikes as a win condition enabler we have taken out an entire Forretress at the cost of only 31% of our HP.

Turn 22

Typhlosion enters the field and we reach the next critical turn of the game. I use a significant portion of my timer evaluating our options. From our opponent’s perspective, revealing a Mixed Zapdos suggests we are heavily invested in offense, giving them confidence that their Typhlosion, likely Timid, will outspeed and KO with Flamethrower, as below:

252 SpA 30 IVs Blaze Typhlosion Flamethrower vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 224-264 (69.5 - 81.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Of course CG12 is unaware of our specially defensive investment, after some quick calculations we identify that our Zapdos can survive a Timid Flamethrower.

252 SpA 30 IVs Blaze Typhlosion Flamethrower vs. 84 HP / 162 SpD Zapdos: 189-223 (55.2 - 65.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

The complicating factor is the potential that this Typhlosion is Fire Blast - that kind of Power will take Zapdos out from this health regardless. We therefore consider the following factors:

• Typhlosion’s entry suggests a degree of confident certainty in taking out Zapdos, as Tyranitar / Ludicolo / Swampert still remain healthy in the wings.
• With Blastoise weakened, only Hariyama can take a Blaze Flamethrower. We can sacrifice Blastoise and go to Hariyama to force out Typhlosion with the threat of Thick Fat, but because of Spikes this Typhlosion will be able to remain in Blaze the remainder of the game. Our lack of Thick Fat is costly here as our options to handle this threat are slim.

Therefore, I place my bet in Zapdos and click Thunderbolt, staking the game on this decision. If I am wrong in our assessment or Typhlosion gets lucky I will lose the game, but success will take out a dominating threat and earn me a long term advantage the rest of the way.

Typhlosion clicks Flamethrower, dealing 58%, and falls to a Thunderbolt. My bet pays off and we take a short lived 6-4 Pokémon advantage. Gengar enters and proves that this win did not come without a cost. Zapdos was a major part of our plan to handle Gengar and at 17% can no longer play that role. Hariyama and Registeel can duel Gengar, but with Tyranitar and an unrevealed Pokémon still in the back, neither wants to take on this task lightly. I pivot our approach and sacrifice Blastoise, then switch into Jynx, using our preparation to inform the read that Gengar can’t make room for Shadow Ball. Representing a Psychic and threatening an OHKO, but wary of Tyranitar in the back, I predict a switch and click Ice Beam, aiming for chip damage on whatever comes in.

Turn 26

To our shock, Gengar stays in! CG12 makes a gutsy play and aims for a kill shot on Jynx with Fire Punch, risking the KO to Psychic. This call pays off as we click Ice Beam, but luck chooses this turn to make a big impact on the game. Our Ice Beam critically hits, KOing the Gengar the same as if we had clicked Psychic, and their Fire Punch burns, effectively KOing Jynx and nullifying its Petaya Berry due to the way end of turn timing activations occur. This turn has a major impact on the game, as Gengar surviving could have changed many things about the outcome of the game. It is entirely possible that Registeel enters on Gengar, takes a Fire Punch and KOes with HP Ghost and the game plays out largely the same from there, but Gengar could attempt to preserve itself or swing the game with a tech move, fully changing the outcome.

Instead, Ludicolo enters on the Spikes and reveals a lack of Leftovers. This immediately keys me in that this is a Rain Dance set and not a bulky set. Knowing that Rain Dance Ludicolo gets a significant power boost from Mystic Water, I click Lovely Kiss to incapacitate the Ludicolo, but it misses! Ludicolo gets off a Rain Dance as Jynx falls to a Surf, somewhat balancing out the previous critical. Registeel enters into the Rain as we consider our options. As we elected not to bring Thunder Wave, we have Seismic Toss and Explosion to choose from, the latter being a large part of why lines where Gengar survives may have played out similarly.

Although we can click Explosion right away, we no longer have the defensive resources to handle this Ludicolo if it were to switch out of the Explosion, and we elect for the conservative option. I click Seismic Toss twice and allow Ludicolo to 3HKO us in return instead of Exploding; crucially taking this line forces the rain to expire, and Ludicolo’s speed advantage with it. Exploding at any point would have reached the same result, but left open the possibility of a Ludicolo switch out costing us the game. Glalie enters, outspeeds, and takes the revenge kill with Ice Beam.

Turn 32

We have reached the end game stage, surviving almost all of the threats the opponent can throw at us, and the game is now a matter of technique. Tyranitar vs Glalie is a threatening position, but we have the tools to handle this - an Explosion deals 40% and crucially ends the turn immediately, allowing Hariyama to enter freely. Tyranitar is forced out at 48% health into Venusaur, and the stage is set for Zapdos to clean up the game. At 20%, Overgrowth Venusaur is matching our Hidden Power damage with Giga Drain healing but it no longer matters. Hariyama is sacrificed to Venusaur as Zapdos enters to revenge kill with Drill Peck.

Turn 36

The final confrontation proves the value of those Spikes from long ago as Tyranitar is dropped under the minimum damage threshold for even the bulkiest of Tyranitar.

196 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD 30 IVs Tyranitar: 145-171 (35.9 - 42.4%) -- 93.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

The only thing that can save CG12 now is a well hidden Endure Salac Berry Dragon Dance set, but it is not to be and Zapdos with only 17% health remaining makes the final move to win the game.

This match encapsulates everything about the drafting process. The strategy of both teams, the movesets chosen, and the key tech sets all came into play in a delicate dance. Both sides misevaluated the threat of certain Pokémon but were able to overcome the deficit, with one side more effectively pressing their advantage to increase the positional lead they held. Luck played an impact, as it does on many games, but largely washed out in the end, leading to the final result you see before. This game ultimately came down to that one major decision to recognize Gengar as a threat and invest heavily in Zapdos special defense, just enough to compensate for a failed preparation into Typhlosion to turn the game around. This was one of the more challenging and rewarding games of mine in recent memory, and CG12 deserves significant kudos for his dangerous team build and powerful play.

Conclusion​

Finally, we reach the end. If you have stuck with me through all of this I commend you, as this has been a monster to write, no less to read through without a doubt. This guide has been written as a labour of love, ADV Draft has been a significant source of challenge and joy for me during 2025, and with so much of the discourse and metagame development constrained to disparate Discord servers, it was a shame that all that information could be lost to time, kept away from public eye. With this guide I hope to have provided you, the reader, with a font of knowledge to slake your thirst for this metagame, both in the information about the metagame itself but also in the philosophical underpinnings of strategy that are so rarely discussed. I hope to have given you a wealth of insight into the team building process, sharing my tips and tricks for systematically breaking down a matchup. But more than anything else, I hope you have fun, either by reading this guide or by competing in tournaments. ADV Draft is an exceptional metagame, a labor of love by so many, with a depth to it like few others, as enjoyable and rewarding as it has been to share this with all of you.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.

Glossary of Terms​

Hide

Aggressive Offense: see Team Styles and Tempo

Bulky Offense: see Team Styles and Tempo

Bulky Water: A Water type with mixed defensive capabilities capable of functioning as a short or long term check to top threats including Metagross, Dragon Dancers, and Fire types. Politoed represents the minimum required bulk to qualify.

(Intimidating) Breaker: A Pokémon that uses strong offensive stats and moves to “break” down defensive Pokémon sweeper team mates. Some have the ability Intimidate.

Cleaner: A Pokémon that “cleans” weakened teams without setup.

(Intimidating) Cleric: A Pokémon that can use Heal Bell or Aromatherapy to cleanse their team of status. Some have the ability Intimidate.

Disruptor: A Pokémon that uses a combination of natural bulk or speed alongside status, Encore, Taunt, and other similar moves to “disrupt” an opponent’s strategy.

End-game Boss: A Pokémon, usually with setup, that will win if it is the last Pokémon standing.

Endeavor Trader: A Pokémon that uses Endeavor to trade down health, often with sand and/or a high speed stat (Natural or with the help of Salac Berry) to secure kills afterward.

Exploder: A Pokémon that uses Explosion or Self-Destruct.

Jack-of-all-Trades: A Pokémon that can perform many roles in one set at a time.

Lockdown: see Team Styles and Tempo

Mixed Attacker: A Pokémon that uses mixed coverage to break or sweep, depending on the rest of the team and the situation.

Mixed Breaker: A Pokémon that uses mixed coverage primarily to break.

Mixed Tank: A Pokémon that can take mixed attacks and coverage and hits hard back (special, physical, or mixed).

Mixed Wall: A Pokémon that can take mixed attacks and coverage permanently, even if it means dealing low damage back.

Offensive Water: A Water type that sacrifices bulky water traits to take advantage of Water being an offensive type that is difficult to resist.

Petaya Sweeper: A Pokémon that utilizes Petaya Berry to enable sweeping.

Physical Breaker: A Pokémon that uses physical attacks and coverage primarily to break.

Physical Sweeper: a Pokémon that uses physical attacks and coverage primarily to sweep.

(Intimidating) Physical Tank: A Pokémon that uses its high base stats to take hits and hit back (physical, special, or mixed). Some have the ability Intimidate.

Physical Wall: A Pokémon that can take physical attacks and coverage permanently, even if it means dealing low damage back.

Pressure Staller: A Pokémon that uses the ability Pressure to stall pp, often with Substitute and Protect.

Rain Sweeper: A Pokémon that uses the Rain weather to sweep. Often in combination with Swift Swim.

Revenge Killer: A Pokémon that comes in after other Pokémon have traded to secure kills.

Set-up Sweeper: A Pokémon that uses set-up moves to “sweep” a team.

Special Attacker: A Pokémon that uses special attacks and coverage to break or sweep, depending on the team and the situation.

Special Breaker: A Pokémon that uses special attacks and coverage primarily to break.

Special Sweeper: A Pokémon that uses special attacks and coverage primarily to sweep.

Special Tank: A Pokémon that can take special hits and hit back hard (mixed physical or special).

Special Wall: A Pokémon that can take special hits permanently, even if it means dealing low damage back.

Speed Control: A Pokémon whose role is to control speed tiers in the builder and battle, often through its own naturally high speed or paralysis, limiting the strategies available to an opponent.

Spikes Midrange: see Team Styles and Tempo

Spiker: A Pokémon that has an expectation to click Spikes.

Spinner: A Pokémon that has an expectation to click Rapid Spin. Not all Pokémon that learn Rapid Spin have the expectation to utilize it.

Spinblocker: A Pokémon that has the expectation to block Rapid Spin. Not all Ghost types are expected to spinblock.

Stall: see Team Styles and Tempo

Stat Pass Receiver: A Pokémon that is most effective after receiving stats from a baton pass.

Stat/Sub Passer: A Pokémon with Baton Pass and stat boosts to pass. The recipient is often a Stat Pass Receiver, though it does not have to be.

(Intimidating) Status Spreader: A Pokémon that spreads statuses, such as paralysis and sleep. Some have the ability Intimidate.

Staller: A Pokémon that uses Substitute and Protect to extend the current gamestate, often in combination with passive damage such as Leech Seed or Toxic.

Suicide Spiker: A Pokémon with the expectation to click Spikes, even if it dies or uses suicide moves in the process.

Sun Breaker: A Pokémon that can use the Sun weather to break, boosting either Fire STAB attacks or speed through the ability Chlorophyll.

Sustained Attacker: A Pokémon that can use its bulk and natural typing resilience to attack for prolonged periods over the course of a game. Can break or sweep, depending on the team and situation.

Sweeper: A Pokémon that aims to take out multiple opposing Pokémon in quick succession, usually through setup.

Trader: A Pokémon whose primary role and expectation is to trade damage with an opponent with the goal of taking down one opponent in exchange for itself.

Trapper: A Pokémon with Arena Trap or Magnet Pull.

Utility Supporting Pivot: A Pokémon whose value comes from a combination of typing and a wide base of support moves rather than from direct damage. These Pokémon switch into specific threats and provide opportunity for their teammates to make progress rather than themselves.

Wonder Guard: Shedinja’s unique ability. Primarily forces a response in the team builder for the opponent by way of status, hazards, or specific coverage.

 

[jeronis]

Thank you brother

 

[WraxiusGaming]

Very high quality post. Good read.

 

[laffon]

crazy good article, really enjoyed it