Lower Tiers ADV LC

[Shing]

I played at a fun team tournament named Levi's Premier League and ended with a satisfying 5-1 record. My team didn't make it to the playoffs so I'll post the teams here with a short explanation on how the team was built in the end. I'll make another post where I'll go through some sets taken from this post, and my thoughts on how the meta has developed, etc.


Week 1 vs Gawain


- Wanted to build around Lead SpDef Diglett w Thief + CB Doduo for electric's and punishing the Physdef Porygon trapping Diglett interaction while both of them cover each other's weakness as well.
- Was in that Physdef Porygon trend and Wailmer fits because it took care of water offense besides Chinchou, which Porygon can handle.
- Elekid felt like necessary for the speed control.

- But because I felt weak to Chinchou, I ran with Lum Berry Bagon paired up with Light Screens Elekid so after Elekid dies to Chinchou or Porygon for example, my Bagon can set up without being worried by t-wave.​

Week 2 vs Mohamedall

- Was just hyped-focused on building around Screech Diglett + Atk invested Porygon in order to OHKO Porygon after it traps Diglett.

- Had to mention that the Porygon spread isn't really good since it doesn't fully OHKO fully Physdef Porygon.​

- The others were mainly speed control and defensive synergy.

Week 3 vs Medaia
- Outdated team, take this.
- I found that Lead Clamperl can beat Wailmer leads(or has a good chance against the bulky spread after recalcing it right recently oops), and I was just hooked to build this lead right away.

- I took notice once I found out it was able to OHKO the dex set of Porygon firsthand. Felt like better than Cubone in my eyes.​

- I tried to build it around where I can use it in mid-game but ended up disliking it since it resembles my para team with Cubone.
- If Clamperl(and Diglett to an extent) could get rid of water types, it was like trying to build rain right after there was a perfect opportunity.
- Diglett with Rock Tomb synergizes very well with Clamperl to give it another opportunity to kill a mon.
- I forgot the reason for the EV spreads on Voltorb and Abra, but I assume it helped me tank hits from Chinchou for example. Both were used since they're the fastest rain dance users while being able to deny opportunities to the opponent.

Week 4 vs Tack



For the first team
- It's actually my third version of this trapping team. If you haven't noticed already, I'm already hell-deep into Diglett-Porygon interactions, and at some point, I found this unhinged core with Growl + Memento Ralts + Sub Sharpen Porygon.
- This version was heavily focused on CB SpDef Diglett, Ralts, and Porygon as the trapping core.
- Instead of running an obvious pursuit trapper, I ran with some lures that were built to force in those ghost types. Doduo can easily force in Duskull in t2 if I get the right MU, and Koffing can get 2hko'd by Drill Peck + Double Edge.
- Duskull and Chinchou there was mainly covered the threats that swept this team.

- Although the CM Duskull was designed to handle vs DD mons and Abraswe at the same time in a guaranteed fashion.​

- CB Diglett was on purpose; I wanted to force Porygon to trap and remove it so I could use Ralts to cripple it so my Porygon can sweep.

For the second team due to tie in match 1
- Used for pursuit trapping for this team.
- Although no Diglett trapping, I've Houndour that speaks for itself wanting to be trapped by Diglett.
- Everything else just covers were to just cover the threats that could have swept my team.

Week 5 vs Trowe
- I updated the team recently to get the EVs that I wanted to have.
- Used too much Diglett, now I want to try Spikes instead.
- Fairly a standard type of team where these mons will abuse the spikes the most in my head.
- I hated how easy it was to OHKO Bagon, so I decided to give it some bulk in order to handle against some endgame threats like Abra(mainly to set btw.
- Build this about an hour before the match due to priority to exams(and a bit too much of DPP laddering oops).

Week 7 vs TheIronPikachu(kmrt played for me due to exams on week 6)


- I really wanted to build around Anoroth and Abra after feeling like they've lowkey broken.

- Figured out that both of them could work in the same team.​

- Diglett, Porygon, and Wailmer were just easy defensive cores that I could just put in.

- Diglett + Screens in particular synergizes well with Anoroth by giving opportunities for a free SD or Sub.​

- The Lead Gastly is designed to discourage Ghosts, Koffing, and Abra switch-ins because my goal is to explode on mons that stops the momentum from them setting up.
- I built this about an hour before the match started, so I've no idea how good it is really.


Huge thanks to BeardedDrakon and Ban Tera Squad for drafting me in. Especially kmrt and Jackewu for supporting me when I needed it, even if I wasn't that much active in the discord srry. If there was something I wish I could have done more was to prep better and play more test games, because holy moly I just autopilot sometimes when trying to build new teams.

Most builds were constructed in a way where I'm planning turns ahead like a gameplan and where I react to the next interactions accordingly. There was some defensive and offensive synergy here and there and you could be flexible with it, but overall I felt like it was like a flowchart type of way when I tried to build. It does explain when I tend to build I have the mid-game and early game planned out, but my leads feel a bit too random or out of place.

 

[grape tylenol]

VR + Sample Teams Update
Thanks to LPL, the Ruins of Alph Spotlight ladder, and the Ruins of Alph Spotlight tournament, there's been a lot of metagame development! As such, the council has created an updated VR. We have also updated the sample teams to reflect the current meta (thank you Tack, LeJames Chonk, reggg, MOHAMEDALL, BlackKnight_Gawain, and zeroouttathere for your submissions!) The original post of this thread has been updated with the new VR and sample teams.

December 10th, 2023 Viability Ranking

S
Porygon

A+
Abra
Diglett
Doduo
Wailmer

A
Elekid
Gastly
Trapinch

A-
Anorith
Horsea
Koffing

B+
Chinchou
Clamperl
Cubone
Duskull
Exeggcute
Houndour
Snubbull

B
Cacnea
Larvitar
Ponyta
Staryu
Voltorb

B-
Bagon
Carvanha
Magnemite
Pineco

C
Baltoy
Lileep
Mankey
Meowth
Onix

Doduo Suspect Test
As LPL was wrapping up, I sent out a short survey to anyone who had played ADV LC asking how they felt about the metagame and if they would like to see tiering action taken on any elements of the metagame. Unsurprisingly, many players asked for tiering action to be taken on Doduo, so we will be holding a Doduo suspect test.

A discussion thread which goes into detail about Doduo's effect on the metagame and lists the qualified voters has been posted here in Policy Review. If you don't have the ability to post in Policy Review but would like to contribute to the discussion, you can request posting access here. If you are not a qualified voter but would like to earn the ability to vote, I will be hosting four live tournaments and the winner of each will be added to the qualified voters list. The live tournaments will be held at the following times (GMT-5):

Saturday December 16th, 2023 at 12:00pm (noon)
Wednesday December 20th, 2023 at 8:00pm
Friday December 22nd, 2023 at 5:00pm
Sunday December 24th, 2023 at 2:00pm

Everyone, including qualified voters, is encouraged to participate in the live tournaments if they are able.

ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure
As a reminder, sign ups for this tournament will go up January 1st. The prize pool, which I am still accepting donations for, is currently at $223 USD!!! Thank you very much LeJames Chonk and Greedy_eb for your generous contributions. I will post a link to sign ups in this thread when they go up. If you're looking to get some practice in before then, the live tournaments mentioned above or the ADV LC Discord are great places!

 

[Shing]

Sets

Diglett @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide / Rock Tomb
- Thief / Screech
- Substitute

Diglett @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Sludge Bomb
- Ancient Power / Double Edge / Pursuit / Filler

I'll take the credit for popularizing the SpDef set since I spammed that in all LPL and before that on a lot of friendlies. The reason I came to this set was that I loved using Trapinch, but I felt like the slow Speed was such a huge issue that you could be vulnerable to Sunny Day Ponyta sets, and you were kinda fodder to Porygon anyway without crippling it that much. I was also a huge nerd who was way too into the Diglett vs Porygon Dynamic since this is one of the most common interactions in this game, so I took into account Porygon while being able to handle Special Attackers as well. Not gonna lie, when I found out it's able to tank hits against most special attackers at a guaranteed calc I was like "This is going to be popular in the future where it's gonna centralize enough that the meta changes". For better or worse, Diglett being able to switch in without dying is a huge deal for the meta.

For Spdef sets, running Ground/Rock moves is all you essentially need for attacking. But Rock Tomb > Rock Slide is an option if you want to just nail on all Porygon sets so your slow, but powerful wall breakers can OHKO it such as Clamperl, CB Snubull, etc. Most Porygons that are used are however slower than the breakers so this reason isn't a big thing, but you can make it use vs faster threats such as 15 Speed Wailmer, Bulky Abra, Anoroth, etc as a last move before going down.
Thief is there to steal the opponent's Sitrus Berry, which is always a huge thing in general, but most importantly against Porygon without Thief(and if so it means they usually don't have a status move!!). A little note I'll mention here is that you can make it hasty and get that 12% dmg so your CB Doduo and other mons that do 88% minimum dmg can OHKO it gurranteed. But Jolly does give you that possible survivability vs Porygon Return and Ice Beam at the same time so most of the time Hasty isn't needed unless you're fishing for that specific calc.
Screech > Thief is an option if you just want to get rid of Porygon with your own Diglett(chance in dmg) or your own Porygon after the Diglett is KO'd. You can apply it in different ways though such as forcing the porygon out with setup sweepers such as SD Sub Anorith, or nailing on Bulky Abra sets that survive the Diglett set. Substitute is super powerful with Thief as it means that you can cut down on your health till you activate Sitrus and steal their Sitrus in the process. The move is pretty much essential with Sitrus Berry Diglett anyway since it invalidates the Endure sets, and lets you waste turns of your opponent from PPs or weather turns.
As again it tanks most Special Attackers, including Super Effective moves such as Ice Punch Elekid and HP Grass mons. The only thing it doesn't completely tank that isn't a STAB super effective move is vs Abra, Fire mons with Fire Blast/Overheat, most noticeably vs Modest Houndour. But the rolls still favor Diglett usually.

SpDef Choice Band is an option if you want to survive vs Elekid, but want that power to eliminate other mons. It can be clutch vs Bulky Abra that survives an EQ from non-CB Diglett for example. You could get this Porygon interaction where your EQ does 50%, but you survive an Ice Beam/Return in the same turn, which ends up in a very interesting position for the next turn where it's unlikely for the opposing Porygon to pull out Recycle unless it's lucky enough to avoid any crits in those 10+ turn. If the Porygon attacks, it's forced to be below 50%. Here's a replay as an example of such a position: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3lc-2010661379-lwqeh0c8rg2hggj2c2y0kfm60m72zfcpw
Note: This is an unlikely position to get due to rolls favoring Porygon and in theory, they can still outstall you with Recycle if they don't get critted.
76 SpA Porygon Ice Beam vs. 36 HP / 236 SpD Diglett: 17-20 (94.4 - 111.1%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
But if you get this position, you're putting that Porygon in an uncomfortable position to begin with.
Also if you haven't noticed here, I haven't included any Hidden Power attacks because all of the relevant ones drop the SpDef IVs one point below which just screws up this spread. Fwiw, the 4th slot is fairly a filler move that I don't know what to fit in tbh.


+

Sets

Ralts @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Trace
Level: 5
EVs: 212 HP / 236 Def / 36 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Memento
- Growl
- Icy Wind
- Thunder Wave / Snatch / Disable

all usage (Porygon) @ Salac Berry
Ability: Trace
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 36 Atk / 36 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Recover
- Sharpen
- Return / Double Edge

If you saw my Week 3 team, your reaction would probably be "What is this LMAOOOOOO", and lemme tell you it's an unironic core thought that was broken because if you didn't have any ghost types on your team, it just meant this team swept your team with no hesitation. The whole core is built from this interaction Ralts switching in Arena Trap Porygon to crippling and weakening it, and then my own Porygon sets up on crippled Porygon. At some point, you would want to lower your Porygon so you'll activate Sitrus via Sub, and then you outspeed the whole tier after +1.
This doesn't apply only to Porygon, but similar mons such as Trapinch and Diglett as well, but I'll go back with this one later. Anyway, the goal is to get -3 Atk and -2 SpAtk on Porygon so you'll get these calcs.
-2 76 SpA Porygon Ice Beam vs. 236 HP / 0 SpD Porygon: 5-6 (19.2 - 23%) -- possible 5HKO
-3 36+ Atk Porygon Return vs. 236 HP / 36 Def Porygon: 5-6 (19.2 - 23%) -- possible 5HKO
Growl is there instead of Charm because of incompatible with Memento :<
Icy Wind slows down the mon which can be neat for Porygon(Esp with Facade). Originally I made a spread where -1 Diglett was slower than Ralts, but Ralts was so frail that sacrificing the bulk meant I just auto-lose to CB Diglett. 4th move is a tricky one and the easiest way to answer is that it's something that should be used for Diglett. Coming back to what I mentioned above, one of the biggest problems I've right now is that with Ralts vs Diglett, it's a whole lot of inconsistency trying to cripple Diglett considering they'll be spamming sub to dodge Icy Wind, but the 4th move may be the solution for that matchup. For example, using Snatch means I can steal their Substitute, although the issue again is that it doesn't solve Diglett spamming Substitute to being with, only gives you a chance to slow it down. Hence this set isn't perfect against ALL trappers, but it may be possible in the future. Otherwise, I think it's mandatory to run this core with an Area trap mon since most players autopilot into Porygon vs the strategy vs Porygon is consistent enough.
Return is usually better to avoid recoil, but Double Edge is just there if you're paranoid about Magnemite for tanking 6+ Return lol.

Sets

Bagon @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Rock Head
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 156 Atk / 40 Def / 120 SpD / 116 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Double-Edge
- Brick Break
- Hidden Power [Ghost]

Just wanna go quick and talk about Bagon because I've been using it more than Larvitar. And why? Well, that's because Larvitar is easy to cover, like many ppl be running HP Grass or Ice Beam/Icy Wind on their defensive mons which is for Larvitar, but also works against other things as well. So I was getting annoyed by how easy it is to take advantage. Bagon shares this issue, but there were some positions I liked to use it, and that was mainly vs water types that don't run Ice Beam because Bagon is one of few that can set up vs momentum stoppers like Chinchou. However, I made this slightly bulkier for Abra specifically, especially after my LPL game vs Trowe where I got bailed due to the lucky roll. This at least secures to take +1 vs Abra.
Honestly, I just wanna talk about how difficult it is to build with DD mons, because my issue is how easy it is to check them, but once they can set up, it usually ends up them being stopped by Ice Beam Porygon on the next turn. Unless you're building your team in a way where it's very structured by each turn, I find it hard to justify using them over like Anorith to being with. I've been leaning towards Bulky DD sets to get 2+ as an adaption. Ngl tho, dropping the atk evs for bulk and speed is such a huge change, but in my mind, this is one of few ways where I can build with them in many different types of teams. Pro tip: To survive vs SE Ice Beam you'll need 23 HP and 13 SpDef, but 22HP > works if you want to accept the 6.3% Roll.

Sets

Gastly @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 76 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpA / 196 Spe
Naive Nature
- Explosion
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute

I love this set a ton. While I used it as a lead to force explosions vs the threats that could switch in my other moves, I can this set fit on mid-game positions vs. Koffing. Maybe the EV Spread could be optimized a bit. I checked the calc does show that I may have missed something. For example, it's very possible to give it 156 atk to secure Explosion vs Larvitar so take this set as a concept for now. Although I'll optimize the spread anyway and post it at the ADV LC Discord(Join there btw!!)

I'll be making another post that has my teams from roa spotlight + extra stuff by either on Friday, or next week.

 

[reggg]

Hello to all fellow ADV LC enjoyers, I have come bearing a team dump with the thoughts of both me and MOHAMEDALL for LPL 11. I warn you that for some of these, I ramble a lot and talk about the sets and their purpose at great length in some cases. Some teams have a lot more than others, as I didn't really start putting major effort into team building until a few weeks into the season as well as Moha having built some weeks for himself. I will Spoiler each section of his and my thoughts for reading convenience. Thank you ahead of time if you choose to read through it all.


Week 1: TRowePrice667

reggg

For week one, I came up with idea of a spikes team with late game horsea to clean up. Horsea is an extremely threatening mon, especially after a spike. With one spike down, it is an 81.3% to ohko with Hydro Pump in rain. Mohamedall took the idea and built this team. Highlights of the team include an Onix as our Doduo check, a max hp max Spdf Porygon as our blanket special attack switch in, and Voltorb as our rain setter. Horsea on this team is Sitrus Berry, letting it eat most physical attacks, set up a rain dance, and heal back to full. This lets it have more longevity throughout game as well as keep it out of range of priority moves like Quick Attack.

MOHAMEDALL

I wouldve loved to go over the games in this dump, but due to a certain event that wont be possible and im gonna have to go from memory. Onix had been a pet mon of mine, being a great Doduo check that dissuades it from clicking its stabs after it's revealed and has a strong boom. We sadly ran into a band Diglett (basura) which means Onix didnt get to do much. I didnt play my greatest game here but the spikes Horsea idea proved itself very good and it carried me to a W1 win.

Week 2: Shing

reggg

For this week, Moha took the lead and created a lead Trapinch team. I think that the Choice Band Doduo + Pursuit trap Houndour combo is quite good, something we utilized more than once throughout the season.

MOHAMEDALL

Trapinch lead looked good into Shing's scout and i got inspired by seeing Tack use it a bunch so i decided to put my spin on it. Turns out prepping sucks and we get hit by a lead Wailmer and also a lot of hax which is what i essentially remember from the game, so not really much to go off of here.

Week 3: DreamyFleur

reggg

his is the week I finally started to build and come up with more ideas for ADV. Wailmer is the best lead in the meta, and I wanted to come up with something to attempt to counter it. I came up with the idea of Gastly, as Psychic into Thunderbolt has good odds to KO the Bulky Wailmer set. With 76 Special Defense EV's, it also is always able to live a Bulky Wailmer's Surf or Fast Wailmer's Water Spout after taking Psychic Damage. The set we ended up using is a slight deviation, running one less special attack and more bulk. This set has to Thief after Psychic in order to get them into Thunderbolt range, but also doesn't have to rely on a roll to kill.

The general idea of this team is to use three Pokemon that bait in Diglett, Abra Pontya and Chinchou, in order to enable the other two. Sunny Day Ponyta and Chinchou are both great mons that are often held back by their Diglett weakness, and so stacking them in combination with Abra to enable to others was a fun idea. The Abra is also encore in order to force the opponent into a weaker attack and set up calm minds. This ended up playing out in the match and was cool to see work.

Another important part of this team is that it is our first use of the physically defensive Porygon spread. With 25 HP and 17 Def, Doduo Double Edge is a 1/16 to kill, while 26 HP Porygon always lives. I prefer the 25 HP version as it lets Porygon hit 15 SpDf which helps against Horsea.

The Diglett set is a funny version of the Specially Defensive Diglett that became insanely popular as LPL went on. With the Spdf ev's, it lives Elekid Ice Punch 15/16 times and is able to kill with EQ in return. This set is actually 19 speed because i wanted to keep the attack stat high enough for Abra. However in later weeks we shifted the spread to be 20 speed and also be able to handle Abra.

MOHAMEDALL

Probably on of my favourite team we used this LPL, the spread change on Gastly ended up being detrimental as i had to switch out of Wail instead of grabbing the likely KO but i still believe it could be useful to drop the SpA point, but putting it in Atk instead to get better Explosion rolls. As an aside, i think both Pony and Chou are very underrated mons, and while both are very Diglett weak, as this game shows this can sometimes be turned to your advantage to enable other Diglett weak pokemon. Shoutout to the double freeze i was a victim of this week which almost made me tilt out of a win, thankfully Encore Abra (one of my favourite Abra sets) came in clutch to secure the win.

Week 4: BlackKnight_Gawain

reggg

Another week where Moha made the initial team and I helped tweaked it, we repeated the arena trap + pursuit combination paired with Choice Band Doduo. Doduo is in my opinion the second best Pokemon in the tier behind Porygon, and I fully believe in any team that Moha makes with it. Diglett is Rock Tomb but other than that it is pretty standard.

MOHAMEDALL

Similarly to the week 2 team i tried messing around with the idea of a band Doduo + Trapper for the 19/20 speed mons+ Houndour for pursuiting Duskull and Koffing. Rock Tomb Diglett is a creation from the mad genius himself Shing and it lets you pursuit stuff with hound that you normally wouldnt. Here we also came up with this hound set, a special version of the Salac one which im not sure was used much at all as those are usually reversal, and a Psychic Elekid to get better MU's vs Gastly and Koffing, since i felt HP Grass to be useless since noone was actually running Chou. I played the game itself pretty terribly and we also didnt really have a good check for Horsea except for Wail who i mismanaged in the early game. Shoutout to reggg for sabotaging me this week as i wanted to bring a bulky Spout Wail, which would have had a great mu vs the lead Snubbull, until he said to use EQ instead.

Week 5: Tack

reggg

This game versus our friend Tack, I tried my hardest to come up with something heat. I started with the idea of a bulky Abra spread inspired from Teamo. I tweaked the set so that it had SpA invest and was able to get more KO's after a Calm Mind while still being able to live a Spdf Diglett's EQ and a Porygon's Return. Moha thought of a lead Chinchou as it looked very good into Tack's preference for slower ground types, and is still good into Wailmer. Sub lets it not be as easily revenge killed by Diglett if we're able to get a turn right.

The Gastly is Physical itemless, a goofy set that I wanted to use to not let Porygon thief back a Sitrus Berry, as well as being able to thief right away. This is also the first week that we brought double edge Porygon. I realized that as people shifted to the phys def set, the lack of attack invest means that you aren't able to OHKO Abra with Return. Double Edge solves this, as well as providing the nice side effect of being able to knock ourselves into Sitrus range with the recoil.

The final cook of this team is a Mirror Coat Lileep that I specially ev'd to specifically handle Wailmer, but also ends up being an excellent check to many other things in the meta. This Lileep will always live a Wailmer Surf into Self-Destruct, while also being able to kill in return with Rock Slide into Mirror Coat. If they Surf twice, we get the kill, and if they boom, Lileep is able to live anyways. It also is a pretty good to check to both Horsea rain and a Doduo switch in. Just a bulky mon that can live a ton of things and cover a lot of weaknesses on the team.

MOHAMEDALL

Sub Chinchou is a really underrated set and it really showed all its strength here, working exactly as planned, baiting the Diglett in on an expected TBolt, subbing as it comes in, and clicking essentially unresisted STABs as Grass types arent real except for Exeggcute. This blew a big hole into Tack's team which then Abra could exploit to win easily. I'm very sad we didnt get to show off the Lileep as it is a really cool mon that we never ended up using again, but its definitely got its merits. I also really like the Double Edge Pory idea, as the tier moves into playing lines where Porygon is left right above 50% so it can be KO'd by a stronger attack without going through its berry i think it could be a valuable innovation, despite it also being slightly riskier.

Week 6: Medeia

reggg

A lead Exeggecute makes an appearance, it matches up well into the ever present lead Wailmer, and is good versus a lead electric or ground type. Explosion on a lead grass type is very nice for it. This team features a new Koffing set I created, one with heavy special defense investment. It's purpose it is able to live Gastly's Psychic 15/16 times, while also maintaining a 15/16 to live CB Doduo. As you may have seen, Moha and I came to enjoy living on the edge in the damage calc. I like pressing for every EV stat I can get and I'm willing to risk 1/16 rolls on certain sets in order to acomplish more. It's a riskier style but one that I prefer in the builder, this concept also generally applies to our Porygon and Diglett spreads that we tended to use.

For our Porygon, I wanted to use a 16 Spdf set in order to help vs a Mystic Water Horsea matchup, which cooked the rest of the team if Eggy ever went down, as well as attack invest to KO Abra with Return.

The classic pairing of specially defensive Diglett and CB Doduo (Initially was a Carvanha but Moha vetoed it) and rounded out with Petaya Elekid for a late game cleaner to finish out the team. A very solid build that showcased my Koffing set which I've come to enjoy.

MOHAMEDALL

Not much to say here especially considering i got lucky and crit the opposing Porygon with Doduo which very much decided the game on the spot. Cool idea from Medeia tho to have a super effective move against Doduo on a lead Cacnea, despite it not actually getting the roll it needed to kill. Definitely had a good idea in replacing the Carvanha with a Doduo, every ADV LC team can be better with a Band Doduo on it (RIP soon, you will not be missed)

Week 7: Teamo

reggg

Moha wanted to stunt on Teamo (As one does), and our playoff seeding was already secured, so we decided to revive and revise an old team of mine, Double Dragon Dance. He wanted to include a SD Salac Anorith, and so I took that and filled out the team for the current meta.

Larvitar is a more bulky variant that can live Porygon Ice Beam, and Bagon is a DD 3 attack set instead of 2 attack + Sub. The Porygon set is a no recycle set, one that I think is extremely bad most of the time, but fits here because of the fast paced, set up spam nature of the team. Its role was to handle any single threat one time, and bother the opponent with all its options of Twave, Thief, Ice Beam and Double Edge.

The Duskull set I was particularly happy with, running a mixed set with Shadow Ball, Icy Wind, and Psychic. The reasoning for the moveset is that Koffing is a major pain for both Bagon and Larvitar, and I wanted a way to surprise it with damage. Shadow Ball into Psychic from Duskull has good odds to KO which helps the team out a lot. Icy Wind is just generally good to slow opposing threats down and let us out speed.

MOHAMEDALL

I wanted to use salac Anorith because i was clowned for suggesting it would be a viable set more than once. I mixed the idea with reggg's old team and this affront to god and nature came out. I already had the game in my hand very early but i threw by not realizing i could just click Dragon Dance forever with Bagon vs Teamo's Cyndaquil. Luckily i found a good setup opportunity for Anorith by thiefing away Cubone's Thick Bone and from there the game was unlosable as Teamo was clueless to what was about to happen to him, so i swagged on him succesfully.

Semifinals: TRowePrice667

reggg

For the semifinals I did a scout on TRowe and saw that he had not brought a single ghost type the entire season, and so I decided that it was time to break out the normal spam. Lead CB Doduo puts the pressure on immediately and forces him into his Doduo check early if he leads off with anything slower than it.

Next is Snubbull, which does some really cool things in this meta. First off, it hits extremely hard with an attack stat almost as high as Doduo, as well as access to Thief for more recovery, Thunderwave to cripple switch ins, and Earthquake to punish Electric types, which Doduo appreciates. With this spread, It outspeeds Fat Wailmer, lives a surf, and kills it with EQ into Return. It also lives a CB Doduo if it gets an Intimidate off. Just a really cool Pokemon with a lot to offer.

Trapinch is the main trapper here, as it is able to deal with either Elekid or Diglett, and potentially both. Using Trapinch as the Diglett removal lets our Elekid roam more freely and lets Porygon act as a more specially defensive check. The Elekid is itemless thief in order to cripple Porygon early and enable a CB Doduo to ohko it even if its Phys Def.

One of my favorite teams I made all season, even having some other versions that shall be revealed at a later date.

MOHAMEDALL

Hey we finally have replays! We get a good lead MU vs a Clamperl, which forces TRowe to go Pory to check Doduo. Sadly he doesnt click Recycle which means my Elekid idea doesnt work out as id like, but he still gets left with an itemless Pory that is chipped and that he decides to sack to Doduo. Here comes my biggest choke of the match, as i decide to go Pory to deal with the incoming Diglett instead of Trapinch, not recognizing that Trowe's team is actually Shing Rain. With this i lose my Horsea check.And with some very unlucky turns (Thunder paraing my Duskull, and it getting full para'd the next turn as i was gonna Thief away its Mystic Water) I lose the game.

Finals: BlackKnight_Gawain

reggg

For Finals week, I could definitely start to feel the burn out. I tried a few different sets and leads but couldn't land on anything I was happy with. Then Moha and I got in call and eventually we decided to bring back the old meta with a classic Para Spam team, based around Clamperl. Clamperl is extremely powerful, capable of quite literally ohko'ing the entire meta game, held back only by its low speed.

We chose to run a lead Staryu, a less common but fantastic option for what we wanted. Rapid Spin I typically don't like, but was good here on the off chance we ran into Spikes. The cook of the team is a attack invested, Sub Focus Punch Elekid, courtesy of Teamo. We chose to run this because Diglett often just hard switches into Elekid because of its Spdf investment, and Focus Punch is able to Ohko it. Twave as a last move to continue to para spam on fast mons. Porygon is a mono ice beam set so that we can get the max utility of twave thief and recycle. Spdf Diglett of our own, and a Max Special Attack endure Salac Berry Houndour to round out the team. The reason for the Houndour set is that we knew the more bulky Abra set was running around, and that our opponent favored using Abra. A max modest crunch will always kill Abra, even with excessive bulk. It also provided an an emergency form of speed control if ever needed.

MOHAMEDALL

We once again get a good lead MU that very soon gets nullified by an Hydro Pump miss on Wail. This Elekid tech also ends up not working like the Semis one as we ran into Trapinch instead of Diglett, which we are powerless against. On the other hand, Clamperl can use this opportunity to start trading, as it gets a kill on Wailmer. I decided not to sub despite it being a great opportunity to do so to conserve hp for a possible endgame vs Anorith. From here on the game starts going in a not so great direction, as Gawain wins 2 crucial speed ties, first the Voltorb vs Diglett one, then the Abra vs Staryu one, which allows him to not get paralyzed. From there the team starts crumbling to the CM Encore Abra. I could've played the endgame better, but the chances definitely were not in my favor after those 2 ties, and so my season ends pretty underwhelmingly.

After Thoughts:

We sadly did not win LPL 11, but I had a fantastic time being able to build with and support MOHAMEDALL , thanks for all the effort you put into the season my friend and for always trusting what I gave you. Thank you to grape tylenol in particular for being a fantastic TL and Captain for us for the season, I always loved seeing you pop your head into the mad scientist lab that was our ADV channel. I am really happy with the teams that we brought, the sets that we came up with and the meta developments we pushed forward and tweaked to our liking.

For ADV LC as a whole, the meta changed a lot over the course of LPL, in particular seeing the rise of Phys Def Porygon and Spdf Diglett in a major way. I really like where our meta is at the moment, and while I didn't play in LPL I've kept up with the it via building and watching all of the ADV games that got played. My opinions on what's good and bad definitely changed as the season went on, and I feel like I've come to appreciate more of the meta.

As a side note, I personally do not want to see Doduo get banned. I plan on making a post about it later on, but I think that while it is the most threatening offensive mon in the meta, it is not without its viable checks and provides a benefit to the meta in a strong physical breaker that keeps Porygon honest. It wasn't long ago that people were wanting Porygon sent to the gulag, and I hope we save Doduo from that fate.

 

[reggg]

Merry Christmas fellow ADV LC enjoyers. Enjoy my gift of fake sets, some are good and most are terrible. Click the present to enjoy your coal.



(Free Doduo )

 

[Shing]

Hi, I'll be sharing all the teams I've been building for the recent ROA spotlight and suspect test below. I'll probably make a separate post going through some cores to avoid messing with this one.




I remembered getting owned by Lead CB Anorith and wanted to build around it with it. It's a simple 3 fast mons + 3 defensive combo with spikes. But I'm using Snorunt over the others for 3 reasons.
- Ice type lets you avoid water mons with Ice Beam coverage, which was a little more specific towards Ladder ppl.
- The Speed factor gives me a chance to avoid vs 15 Speed Wailmer so I had a chance to pull out a spike guaranteed.
- Snorunt is incredibly bulky on its right where I've calced where Porygon with 1 Ice beam + 1 Return doesn't OHKO it at a guaranteed calc, and it can sponge hits vs those water types.

Just wanted to abuse Toxic + Sub vs Porygon and be as annoying as possible. Not gonna lie, I don't think this is good since it high key loses vs Cacnea + trapper and I lost more than I won with this team. But let's go through this quickly.
Trapinch is there to survive a hit vs Porygon + vs some moves I forgot the calc on, so I'll get a Toxic on it. For those who don't know ADV LC, Toxic Chip activates after the effect of the item being used, which means if you got your opponent below 50% via Toxic, you won't activate the Sitrus Berry at that point.
Bagon is way more bulkier so it could set up vs Porygon though the intent with this team was that it could set up on Chinchou w/o twave. But again I felt like I overextended in this team which is why it looks so off. Also yeah there aren't any Porygon teams since I do think it's possible to build one w/o it, but it's just usually much better to have Pory tbh. For this case, I wanted to be secure vs CM Abra so I added Duskull for Doduo check + handling any Abra variants.




Posted this team already in the Doduo Suspect thread, but I'll quickly go through on this one. Doduo OHKO lot of the tiers, therefore forces the opponent to react quickly to their checks. A lot of the checks share the same weakness and exploitation, and Clamperl is the perfect Pokemon that threatens it out since Clamperl OHKOs all of them with ease lol, and are faster than 99% of the defensive checks. Everything else is built to cover the holes of these two and eliminate those checks. There are alternatives such as dropping Trapinch or Snorunt to secure yourself better against such as Clamperl for example. Also if you wonder why Flail Doduo, it's bc below 10% it does OHKO Physdef Porygon and I found that very funny.




You may have already seen this one if you were in their live tours or saw the final games where I and Trowe won. This is a para-team that takes full advantage of Sub Cubone and Sub Clamperl to sweep through the team. Clamperl and Cubone both are notorious for their power, and with Sub + Para you're able to claim 2 so free as it is. The rest are fast ones to help clean + spread para. It's probably my most successful team due to its simplicity and how effective the breakers are. I hate this worked though, and it makes me worry if the para archetype is going to increase more in the future simply said.

After debating with Kaboom on Discord about the value of Anorith lead in the meta, he mentioned SD Anorith > CB Anorith at some point and I'm not gonna lie I wanted to build a team out of this as well. This team looks weirdly structured compared to my other builds, but I liked how I ended with this team. Anorith + Sub Encore Cacnea is a strong combination I had in mind since Cacnea took care of a lot of leads that were strong vs Anorith. Encore specifically eliminated the Sub Clamperl interaction which is why I cared more about this mon than the alternative options. Not beginner-friendly I would have to mention, since it requires some layers of knowledge to understand how it synergizes through the game.

 

[Shing]

As mentioned, I'll be going through things I didn't include above since it would be a big mess.

I'll go with some Meta thoughts to start with...
I've always wanted to talk about this core: + + since I used it so much at LPL.
IMO this is the best core in this tier, or at least the definition of that spammable staple core for what it can provide. The core has such a strong defensive synergy that there aren't a lot of ways to OHKO this core straightforwardly, only to some strategies such as Explosion spam, Clamperl/Doduo with spikes support, and other specific ones. It all lies down to how they synergize with each other. Wailmer is notorious for being difficult to be OHKO, and the partners help to minimize the offensive checks such as Diglett vs Electric types and Porygon vs CB Doduo, Cacnea, and Chinchou, etc. Wailmer also solidifies vs Rain and can eliminate threats that Diglett and Porygon don't like. The offense may not have the sweeping aspect, but they keep things in check extremely well. Other points I should mention are that they aren't the slowest of the core since you have one of the fastest Pokemon in the tier, and Wailmer can be a mix of fast and slow depending on where you're heading at.

As for the sets, the most common ones are Bulky Lead(SpDef Wailmer), Physdef Porygon(Twave or Thief are both dependable), and SpDef Diglett(most of the time Sitrus), and that's all you need usually. But there are some noticeable differences such as Physdef Wailmer + SpDef Porygon + Diglett, etc. My point in the end is that the core has many different ways to used and approach to your liking.
It doesn't mean the core is all perfect though. Since a lot of players prefer using its defensive attributes, there are some major holes such as the lack of a powerhouse which means they won't threaten as much. You can take advantage of that with a slower Pokemon with Spikes, Sub with a mon that threatens Wailmer, or start having bulky setups that tank Diglett and Porygon hits. The core isn't overwhelmingly too centralizing to the tier if you look at my recent and Reggg's posts both of us lack these three together as other teams showcase many other cores that are viable to the tier, just how the meta develops itself.

But I do think every new player who wants to learn the tier should immediately try to use this to understand how it works and against it. The core does give a decent showcase of how offense and defense interact. and you'll get similar positions that will be proven useful through your ADV LC experience. As for the new players that want to build for themself with this core, I recommend one or two faster Pokemon(18 or higher) because Doduo(and some degree Abra) has this funny side effect where it kinda threatens most slower mons and it just helps to have faster mons in this tier. Otherwise, go bananas since you can build a lot of different variations to your liking.

Not much to say besides I think this Pokemon is genuinely a tier above its competition and is a clear 2nd best Pokemon to the tier due to how it warps the meta. It's also extremely easy to build with it, though that's probably a me thing ngl. But still, that thing has this kinda "invalidates" Special Attackers aspect, and it's not just easy to take advantage of it. Diglett does its job, gets trapped by Porygon, and cripples it and that's honestly just very effective as the pace usually changes at that point. It just feels like that mon deserves to be in the tier with Porygon tbh.

This thing is not in B tier at all. Strong as a lead, and an amazing endgame cleaner since it's one of few that aren't afraid of Anorith and is 19 speed which lets it avoid 18 speed tie dilemma(Doduo, Gastly, and Anorith moment). T-wave is so annoying as well, as if you see this as a lead it's guaranteed that you won't have a good time at all. Staryu is also the fastest Rapid Spinner that threatens ghost types, which is a noticeable trait due to the higher usage of spikes in recent times. I've loved using some bulky variants to survive from CB Diglett for example. I think it's in a comfortable place of A- IMO.

This Pokemon is not okay at all LMAO. I've been using so many different Clamperl teams and have seen it becoming more common now. That thing does not give a fuck who you are, you're getting your ass OHKO'd. The best defensive checks are like SpDef Wailmer, or SpDef Porygon which can't switch in if there's a spike on their field anyway. And I find that handling faster mons is much easier to handle with Diglett(Spdef moment) cores, and recently taking advantage of para spam so I'll get free kills with Clamperl. It's somewhat bulky enough to tank a hit so you can preserve them later in the game. People are taking more notice of it, but I hope it explodes at the money tour.

Toxic is not used so much, but I found out that the Poison dmg activates after the Sitrus Berry effect some time ago. It means in ADV LC terms that if the Poison chip hits the opponent below 50%, the Sitrus Berry won't activate at all. You can take that advantage vs. Wailmer and Porygon for example. So I've been running with Toxic Snorunt for example to take an Ice Beam + Return to setup spikes, but also crippling them in the process.
It's not that big of a deal, but I found it pretty cute that's how it works in ADV tbh.

There is more I would love to talk about, but I think the post has been long enough. So there will be another one at some point.

 

[grape tylenol]

Doduo

The long awaited results of the Doduo suspect are here! After a very close vote (10 ban votes and 7 do not ban votes), Doduo will remain in ADV LC! Thank you to everyone who took the time to discuss Doduo's place in the tier, and everyone who voted.

ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure

If you somehow haven't already heard, signups for ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure are up! The prize pool, which I am still accepting donations for, is currently at $440.25 USD!!! Thank you very much to the generous donors (LeJames Chonk, Greedy_eb, TRowePrice667, Shing, DreamyFleur, grape tylenol, Corporal Levi, goldmason, reggg, kmrt) who made this possible.
Signups for this tournament will close Sunday, January 7th at 10:00 PM GMT-5.

Introduction to ADV LC Article in The Flying Press
Thanks to the hard work of many users (grape tylenol, Kaboom, and reggg (authors), Tea Guzzler and Sulo (GP), Albatross (Art), Éric (QC), and Steorra (HTML)), we now have an article that provides an introduction to ADV LC for those new to the tier. I hope this article will be helpful to new ADV LC players. You can read the article here!

 

[grape tylenol]

ADV LC Ladder on Pokemon Showdown

I'm happy to announce we have another temporary ADV LC ladder on Pokemon Showdown! This ladder should be invaluable for players looking to test their teams for the ongoing ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure tournament, but I also hope that people not in the tournament can enjoy it. You can find the ladder under the "Unofficial Metagames" header:

Happy laddering!

 

[grape tylenol]

Accuracy Lowering Moves

Accuracy lowering moves are now banned from ADV LC!

As you may have already seen, whether it be on the ADV LC ladder, in a friendly match, or even in the ongoing ADV LC Open tournament, a new strategy combining trapping with accuracy lowering moves has emerged. The most prominent abuser of this strategy is Diglett, thanks to it being the fastest Pokemon in the metagame (tied with only Elekid and Voltorb.) Diglett will trap an opposing Pokemon that would normally beat it 1v1, then abuse an accuracy lowering move of choice such as Mud Slap and Substitute to fish for misses. After 1 accuracy debuff, a 100% accurate move has a 75% chance to hit, and after 2 that drops to 60%, making it very likely that Diglett can get a free turn and win an otherwise losing matchup. In addition to Diglett, Porygon has also been seen using this strategy - in fact, any Pokemon that can trap an opposing Pokemon (whether via ability or a move) and learn an accuracy lowering move could use this strategy. Unsurprisingly, the playerbase was not happy with this new strategy and immediately started calling for a ban.

This was a very difficult problem for the council to approach. A few options besides banning accuracy lowering moves were considered, including banning Diglett outright, banning Arena Trap, or no ban at all. Banning Diglett would eliminate the most prominent abuser, and banning Arena Trap would likely eliminate all abusers (although a trapping move + accuracy lowering move combination would still be possible,) but neither had been brought up as banworthy prior to this strategy becoming popular so it was hard to justify either ban. We also didn't want to see Diglett (and possibly other Pokemon) commonly running accuracy lowering moves. While accuracy lowering moves are an interesting option for Pokemon with access to trapping to beat Pokemon that would otherwise beat them, it reduces the game to luck rather than player skill, and we want to cultivate a competitive and enjoyable metagame.

I recognize that an accuracy lowering move ban is a bit strange but we believe it is the best way to eliminate this strategy and keep the tier competitive. As such, we held a council vote to quick ban it and ended up with 4/5 votes to ban.

	grape tylenol	reggg	Kaboom	Quinn	MOHAMEDALL
Accuracy lowering moves	Ban	Ban	Do Not Ban	Ban	Ban

As a result, effective immediately, accuracy lowering moves (Flash, Kinesis, Mud-Slap, Muddy Water, Octozooka, Sand Attack, Smokescreen) will be banned from ADV LC. This ban will be in effect for Round 2 of ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure. Tagging Kris for implementation (thank you!)

If you are left wondering about another Pokemon, don't worry, we will be sending out a tiering survey soon to gauge how the playerbase feels about it.

 

[grape tylenol]

January 2024 ADV LC Tiering Survey

As mentioned in the previous post, the ADV LC council has decided to send out a tiering survey to gauge how the playerbase feels about the current metagame and collect feedback on potentially broken elements of the current metagame. Please fill it out here if you have the time! The form will close Sunday January 28th at 10:00AM GMT-5, so please fill it out before then if you want your opinion to be heard. Thanks!

 

[grape tylenol]

DeepSeaTooth

The long awaited results of the DeepSeaTooth suspect are here! DeepSeaTooth is now banned from ADV LC! Thank you to everyone who took the time to discuss DeepSeaTooth's place in the tier, and everyone who got reqs and voted. Tagging dhelmise for implementation.

Some of the resources listed in the original post of this thread have become slightly out of date. I was holding off on updating them until a verdict on DeepSeaTooth was reached - now that DeepSeaTooth is banned, the resources should be updated soon.

 

[Eeveeto]

Since I am out rather quickly of the tournament, lets do some nominations:

From Unranked to C.


Eeveeto (Eevee) (M) @ Leftovers / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Run Away
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 36 Def / 236 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Body Slam
- Shadow Ball / Curse

As a bulky Normal type, Eevee has 5 out of 6 Stats worse than Porygon and there are no reasons to use Eevee over it. However...
1. There are no ranked Fight types at all, so Normal is a decent defensive typing. Out of 4 Fighting types, only 2 (Mankey and Machop) are even remotely viable. There is a scarcity in Fight moves too.
2. It has Wish, which always heals 50% in Adv, regardless of the user's HP.
3. While there are no reasons to use Eevee over Porygon, there are more than enough to use along it. Eevee has decent Special Defense, while Porygon usually favours physical bulk. Eevee switches well into some metagame threats:

196 SpA Gastly Thunderbolt vs. 236 HP / 236+ SpD Eevee: 8-10 (32 - 40%) -- 40.2% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
120 SpA Wailmer Surf vs. 236 HP / 236+ SpD Eevee: 10-12 (40 - 48%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
240 SpA Elekid Thunderbolt vs. 236 HP / 236+ SpD Eevee: 11-13 (44 - 52%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
232+ SpA Chinchou Thunderbolt vs. 236 HP / 236+ SpD Eevee: 11-13 (44 - 52%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
160 SpA Voltorb Thunderbolt vs. 236 HP / 236+ SpD Eevee: 10-12 (40 - 48%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
196+ SpA Exeggcute Solar Beam vs. 236 HP / 236+ SpD Eevee: 13-16 (52 - 64%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery



Can take Fire Blast from Ponyta in Sun and Hydro Pump from Horsea in Rain, stalling weather turns with Protect. Will take one Psychic from Abra and OHKO back most of the time.

While, yes, some of the above threats will explode on Eevee... this is actually a good thing. A Gastly that have exploded on Eevee is a Gastly that will never explode on your Porygon, a pretty common interaction otherwise. Eevee preserves your Porygon by checking some special threats while healing teammates with Wish, thats a good niche. The departure of Clamperl makes Eevee better, since Clamperl actually had a 50% chance to OHKO with Surf, meaning that now you can use Porygon Pdef again and use Eevee Sdef.

2 Replays of Eevee in action (from the tournament):
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3lc-2030238201 < R1 Replay. Eevee tanks Abra's Psychic and KOs. When opposing Elekid haxes its way the rest of Eevee's team, Eevee comes back and proceeds to stall it with Wishtect. Opponent commits the mistake of not only sending Doduo, but also using a non STAB Move with it, losing it to Eevee too. Finally, Eevee gets the 3rd kill vs Elekid.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3lc-2044850456-k3ustc4ofyb60q4oxyc6263ckw7zr4cpw < R3 Replay. Eevee gets paralyzed by Gastly, but kills it nonetheless. Would have killed Abra too if it didn,t crit.

From Unranked to C.


Free Candies (Drowzee) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 156 Def / 12 SpA / 116 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave / Lots of moves to be tried on this slot. Drowzee learns elemental punches, Brick Break, Thief, Shadow Ball, Calm Mind, etc.
- Protect

Drowzee has enormous bulk and Wish. The only thing holding it back is Houndour's existance. Pair it with Diglett and something that lures it in and watch good results.

Bravest Bird (Taillow) @ Choice Band
Ability: Guts
Level: 5
EVs: 240 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Quick Attack
- Steel Wing / Endeavor

Weaker Doduo but faster. Shouldn,t be used without an actual Doduo. The 19 Speed allows to RK Anorith reliably with Steel Wing or leave some other rock with low HP using Endeavor.

From Unranked to C.

Rhyno (Rhyhorn) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Rock Head
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 156 Def / 36 SpA / 196 SpD / 76 Spe (other spreads can be explored)
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Thief
- Double-Edge / Sword Dance / Substitute


Normal resist, so good Doduo check. With 0 Attack invested it has more attack than Max Attack Jolly Onix. Rock Blast is a very powerful move due to being multi-hit in LC. Rhyhorn will always live non Band Diglett's EQ from full. It will also live a Porygon's Ice Beam, outspeeding it and stealing the Sitrus. Porygon can try stealing the Sitrus back, but with Rock Blast's power and variance, its a dangerous task. Onix is still better most of the time due to higher Speed and Explosion, but Rhyhorn is better on paralysis focused teams that need a Doduo switch-in. Rhyrhorn's acess to Thief and Sword Dance give it enough of a niche.

From A to A+.

Both in the tour and in the Suspect ladder this guy haxed me so much with crits and paras (both Tbolt and Static ones) that he deserves a promotion.


Would also nominate Sentret and Surskit, which almost saved my run today, but without actual battles won with them, can,t really do it. Have a nice Eeveening.

 

[Sandwiches42]

Alright... here goes...
Shuppet Unranked -> C-
I think Shuppet deserves a go at the viability Rankings. (Like C or D, nothing crazy)
Using the Alt Clyde42, I have achieved pretty consistent results, using Choice Band Shuppet.

Shuppet @ Choice Band
Ability: Insomnia
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 236 Atk / 176 SpD / 80 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Body Slam
- Double-Edge

Basically the reason I found a spot for it on my team is as an explosion absorber that puts pressure on incoming Porygon and Set-up Sweepers.
I found Gastly and duskull both get Hard walled by porygon (apart from wisp chip from the latter), and set up on by sweepers, (Ponyta/bellsprout w/sunny day, houndour w/sub and pursuit, etc).

That is not its only role, as it has just enough bulk to tank certain attacks and threaten back with strong physical Attacks (mainly SB or HP Fighting).

196+ SpA Exeggcute Solar Beam vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 17-21 (80.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO (Also prevents potential explosions)
236 SpA Abra Psychic vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 17-21 (80.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
156 SpA Voltorb Thunder vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 16-19 (76.1 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Prevents Explosions again)
240 SpA Elekid Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 15-18 (71.4 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
164 Atk Larvitar Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Shuppet: 17-21 (80.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
236 SpA Ponyta Fire Blast vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 17-21 (80.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO (Assuming Sun is not up yet)
200+ SpA Horsea Surf vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 15-18 (71.4 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Assuming rain is not up yet)
236 Atk Anorith Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Shuppet: 16-19 (76.1 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Assuming no SD yet)
156 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Shuppet: 16-19 (76.1 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
156 Atk Diglett Hidden Power Ghost vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Shuppet: 15-18 (71.4 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Normally an explosion absorber is not necessary, and spikes hurt shuppets viability for sure, but when paired with multiple bulky "explosion targets" (like a bulky wailmer and bulky porygon in the case of the team I am laddering with) makes shuppet a valuable resource.

While most of the attacks tanked listed above mostly result in ohkos back (or high roles to), there are a few that are not guaranteed, and I think two strong partners are the best two priority users in the tier, trapinch and especially doduo (meowth Fake out, and Quick attack ponyta work, but are more niche).

You can also run knock off if you are having trouble against recycle users (tank porygon), or pinch berry users. My team didn't, because of the synergy with quick attack, but you could easily slap it on top of one of the normal moves I run.
This is just the Choice Band set, I am sure you can make other sets and moves work (using wisp, t-wave, curse, taunt, destiny bond, toxic, knock off, thief) for surprise factor (more than already bringing shuppet). The downside of this would be the fact that you may as well use duskull at that point, but a wisp + shadow ball+ destiny bond bulky variant I see having uses on specific teams.

Anyways, I know Shuppet deserves better than unranked, as it certainly has a niche.

 

[vapicuno]

Alright... here goes...
Shuppet Unranked -> C-
I think Shuppet deserves a go at the viability Rankings. (Like C or D, nothing crazy)
Using the Alt Clyde42, I have achieved pretty consistent results, using Choice Band Shuppet.

Shuppet @ Choice Band
Ability: Insomnia
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 236 Atk / 176 SpD / 80 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Body Slam
- Double-Edge

Basically the reason I found a spot for it on my team is as an explosion absorber that puts pressure on incoming Porygon and Set-up Sweepers.
I found Gastly and duskull both get Hard walled by porygon (apart from wisp chip from the latter), and set up on by sweepers, (Ponyta/bellsprout w/sunny day, houndour w/sub and pursuit, etc).

That is not its only role, as it has just enough bulk to tank certain attacks and threaten back with strong physical Attacks (mainly SB or HP Fighting).

196+ SpA Exeggcute Solar Beam vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 17-21 (80.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO (Also prevents potential explosions)
236 SpA Abra Psychic vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 17-21 (80.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
156 SpA Voltorb Thunder vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 16-19 (76.1 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Prevents Explosions again)
240 SpA Elekid Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 15-18 (71.4 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
164 Atk Larvitar Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Shuppet: 17-21 (80.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
236 SpA Ponyta Fire Blast vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 17-21 (80.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO (Assuming Sun is not up yet)
200+ SpA Horsea Surf vs. 4 HP / 176 SpD Shuppet: 15-18 (71.4 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Assuming rain is not up yet)
236 Atk Anorith Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Shuppet: 16-19 (76.1 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Assuming no SD yet)
156 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Shuppet: 16-19 (76.1 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
156 Atk Diglett Hidden Power Ghost vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Shuppet: 15-18 (71.4 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Normally an explosion absorber is not necessary, and spikes hurt shuppets viability for sure, but when paired with multiple bulky "explosion targets" (like a bulky wailmer and bulky porygon in the case of the team I am laddering with) makes shuppet a valuable resource.

While most of the attacks tanked listed above mostly result in ohkos back (or high roles to), there are a few that are not guaranteed, and I think two strong partners are the best two priority users in the tier, trapinch and especially doduo (meowth Fake out, and Quick attack ponyta work, but are more niche).

You can also run knock off if you are having trouble against recycle users (tank porygon), or pinch berry users. My team didn't, because of the synergy with quick attack, but you could easily slap it on top of one of the normal moves I run.
This is just the Choice Band set, I am sure you can make other sets and moves work (using wisp, t-wave, curse, taunt, destiny bond, toxic, knock off, thief) for surprise factor (more than already bringing shuppet). The downside of this would be the fact that you may as well use duskull at that point, but a wisp + shadow ball+ destiny bond bulky variant I see having uses on specific teams.

Anyways, I know Shuppet deserves better than unranked, as it certainly has a niche.

This post was moved from the previous ADV LC viability rankings thread to this current thread.

 

[grape tylenol]

I think Shuppet deserves a go at the viability Rankings. (Like C or D, nothing crazy)

Hi Sandwiches42,

Thanks for your interest in the ADV LC metagame!

We actually did take a look at Shuppet when updating the Viability Rankings this month but unfortunately it didn't quite make the cut (it would've been placed in D rank, if we had one.) Typically when nominating Pokemon to the Viability Ranking, its best to focus on Pokemon that have a strong niche in the metagame that would place them around B- rank or higher. Choice Band is certainly an interesting set for Shuppet, however I can see some major flaws in being locked into moves with immunities as well as Shuppet's low Speed. At 12 Speed you are outsped by basically everything in the metagame, and even at Shuppet's maximum speed of 15, you are still outsped by a large chunk of the metagame. A utility focused set also struggles due to its low Speed and low bulk, as well as being outclassed by Duskull.

For these reasons, I won't be adding Shuppet to the viability ranking.

 

[Sandwiches42]

Hi Sandwiches42,

Thanks for your interest in the ADV LC metagame!

We actually did take a look at Shuppet when updating the Viability Rankings this month but unfortunately it didn't quite make the cut (it would've been placed in D rank, if we had one.) Typically when nominating Pokemon to the Viability Ranking, its best to focus on Pokemon that have a strong niche in the metagame that would place them around B- rank or higher. Choice Band is certainly an interesting set for Shuppet, however I can see some major flaws in being locked into moves with immunities as well as Shuppet's low Speed. At 12 Speed you are outsped by basically everything in the metagame, and even at Shuppet's maximum speed of 15, you are still outsped by a large chunk of the metagame. A utility focused set also struggles due to its low Speed and low bulk, as well as being outclassed by Duskull.

For these reasons, I won't be adding Shuppet to the viability ranking.

Fair enough, especially considering this means of ranking: "Typically when nominating Pokemon to the Viability Ranking, its best to focus on Pokemon that have a strong niche in the metagame that would place them around B- rank or higher." I would agree, Shuppet is definitely not at that level, because of the flaws you laid out. Thanks for looking at the post though!

 

[Shing]

Shuppet Unranked -> C-
I think Shuppet deserves a go at the viability Rankings. (Like C or D, nothing crazy)

Anyways, I know Shuppet deserves better than unranked, as it certainly has a niche.

Just wanna speak out on your second sentence real quick here.

Shuppet had a legitimate niche back in the Clamperl meta where it was a para spreader that could switch into Doduo, but also as well avoided being outsped by Modest Clamperl. If the VR was updated with Deep Sea Tooth, you would certainly see it in the VR. I still think that utility Shuppet would be their best set if being used in the current meta, but I wouldn't rank it right now personally since there aren't many other mons that benefit from its tool.

While I liked the idea that you can use it to cover Explosions, I can't quite seem to agree with Porygon's 100% point here. The only you're going to "pressure" it is if they're trying to switch in if they think you're going to use Shadow Ball. But in other situations, the pressure looks very bleak. E.g it can't 1v1 it since it gets annoyed by Twave + Recycle(though you're able to handle the Recycle part with Knock Off > Body Slam but using when locked by CB isn't as appealing when I don't see it getting any more switch-ins opportunities). I think the worst part though is the inability to secure kills as it doesn't guarantee the kills at all. Something like Chinchou, Voltorb, and Ponyta has the chance to survive a hit. However, I'll note that if you have spikes on that one, this could drastically help you in this weakness.

There's also something I want to tackle here right now. Even if you get the safe switch in from like after a fainted mon, it isn't completely safe from one of the most common interactions in ADV LC; Substitute spamming. The opponent can use Substitute to take advantage of your locked Shuppet, turning the momentum in their favor. This will be one of its biggest problems especially when the Shuppet is very slow since fast mons tend to abuse Sub the most. Examples such as Sub into Liechi/Petaya Gastly, or just using Sub itself to just scout the move once they figure out your Shuppet is CB from the earlier turns.

If you could post some ladder replays here and maybe some calcs that hit vs others, then maybe I'll take a revisited look on this mon again. The CB Shuppet set can do damage by good reads, but at that point that mon is essentially carried by the player making smart moves. Otherwise, that man needs a lot of support to function, especially when their moves aren't all threatening and each one doesn't cover a wide target. IMO just not worthy as a niche enough to be ranked personally. The Explosion coverage is a very interesting view to look at since there are playstyles that have explosion as their way to progress, so personally don't give up on it Shuppet yet. There is certainly a niche with Shuppet that could be worthwhile, but right now what I've seen does not make me feel like they're worthwhile to be mentioned in the VR.


Speaking this from someone who's not in the ADV LC council, but someone who has experimented with Shuppet beforehand.

 

[grape tylenol]

February 2024 Resource Update

As previously mentioned, the resources for the tier have been updated to reflect the state of the meta after DeepSeaTooth was banned.

Viability Rankings

February 13th, 2024 Viability Ranking

S
Diglett
Porygon

A+
Abra
Doduo
Wailmer

A
Elekid
Gastly
Staryu
Trapinch

A-
Anorith
Chinchou
Koffing
Snubbull

B+
Cubone
Duskull
Exeggcute
Horsea
Houndour
Voltorb

B
Bagon
Cacnea
Larvitar
Pineco
Ponyta

B-
Lileep
Magnemite
Onix
Snorunt

C
Baltoy
Carvanha
Meowth
Ralts

Major Shifts

Clamperl: B+ → Unranked
Truthfully, Clamperl should have been ranked higher before DeepSeaTooth was banned. Now that DeepSeaTooth is banned, we've decided to unrank Clamperl, as it is unclear how viable it will be without it. Clamperl may be re-added to the viability ranking if it finds a niche (perhaps with DeepSeaScale, which can give Clamperl an impressive Special Defense stat of 32).

Diglett: A+ → S
Diglett has become a powerful force in ADV LC thanks to its ability Arena Trap and incredible Speed stat. As the meta has developed, Diglett has become more and more optimized, allowing it to beat its fellow 20 Speed Pokemon as well as many other Pokemon in the tier. Even if Diglett has a losing matchup, its Speed allows it to either chunk the opposing Pokemon so a teammate can finish it off, or steal its item using Thief. These qualities have made Diglett a staple in the tier, propelling it to S rank.

Staryu: B → A
With a speed stat of 19, a great movepool, and a good ability in Natural Cure, it was only a matter of time before Staryu rose up in the Viability Rankings. Crucially, its Speed of 19 allows it to KO Doduo, but unlike other Pokemon that outspeed and KO Doduo, it doesn't lose to Diglett. In addition to its strong attacking movepool (which includes BoltBeam, STAB Hydro Pump and Surf, and Psychic,) Staryu gets great utility moves like Thunder Wave, Light Screen, and Reflect. These qualities made Staryu a very popular pick during the DeepSeaTooth suspect test, and its likely that it will stick around now that it's been discovered.

Snorunt: Unranked → B-
Previously unranked, Snorunt has found success as a Spikes user. Its Ice typing is surprisingly useful, giving it better matchups compared to other Spikes users into Water types as well as Doduo and Porygon. However, a bad lead matchup can go much worse for Snorunt than its fellow Spikes users, so it will be placed below them in B-.

Ralts: Unranked → C
Similarly to Snorunt, Ralts was previously unranked but has found a niche thanks to its ability Trace. By using Trace to acquire the Arena Trap ability, Ralts can trap an opposing Pokemon and make it set up fodder using utility moves like Thunder Wave, Icy Wind, Growl, Torment, and Memento. While this is a very niche strategy, it is extremely effective when played correctly. As such Ralts has been moved to C rank.


Minor Shifts
Chinchou: B+ → A-
Snubbull: B+ → A-
Horsea: A- → B+
Voltorb: B → B+
Pineco: B- → B
Lileep: C → B-
Onix: C → B-
Carvanha: B- → C
Mankey: C → Unranked

Sample Sets
The sample sets on the Smogon Strategy Pokedex have also been updated. Thank you to everyone who put in the work to make sure this got done in a timely manner. Speaking of sample sets...

ADV LC Analysis Project
I am excited to announce that we are starting an ADV LC analysis project! If you are interesting in writing an analysis for an ADV LC Pokemon, be sure to check out the thread to see which Pokemon are available at the moment. If you have any questions about contributing please DM me on Discord (grapetylenol) or here on Smogon!

 

[Alice Kazumi]

I'd like to share some of the sets I've used in battles. https://pokepast.es/4746cd9ec92e896f

Screens Setters

Exeggcute, ralts and drowzee depends on your tastes on how to pass to the sweeper.
Wish drowzee needs the sweeper to be a bit more bulky.
Memento Ralts is better if you have an extremely frail team.
Explosion Exeggcute is riskier but has higher reward in case it works.
Abra is usually better than smoochum but you if you use both then use smoochum as the screens user and you can freely use cm abra. Their main advantage over the 3 previously mentioned mons is their speed.

Sweepers

These mons use a variety of berries + boosting moves or clima to work. Some of them like porygon are more self-sufficient but others like carvanha needs screen to work. Anorith is probably one of the strongest screens abusers, you can use the more bulky version if you don't want to use screens. Both versions do well on screens.

There are two swagger+psych up sets (onix and mankey) that are banned.

Hard counters to meta mons

Growlithe beats up most porygon sets and has intimidate.
Slowpoke deals with abra and does decently into porygon unless it runs thunderbolt. It also offers thunder wave.
Subpunch Drowzee beats up abra and is bulky enough to do survive vs most mons.

Other mons

Azurill line is my favourite pokemon line so I tried to make it work as a choice band user, it hits hard.
Magby sub punch is a set that if it gets a good matchup it can get work done, it has trouble vs some meta mons like diglett and staryu which prevent it to rise higher in popularity.
I like using cacnea a bit more agressive than the sets I've seen other players use, salac berry works well on leads.
I was annoyed at thunder wave spam so I decided to run heal bell snubbull, this mon is a good supportive mon with decent attack, intimidate and heal bell.

 

[Shing]

Out of the Porygon's Bizzare adventure tournament after playing 3 sets and taking way more act wins lol

Wish I got to play more ADV LC in previous rounds, but I'm very glad to be out since I was feeling very stressed from Mons distracting me from school and homework. So since I'm out I'll be posting teams(the Clamperl ones will be in another post since they're banned aka unuseable).

vs Yellowfin
G1: https://pokepast.es/d93230651fa030d3
G2: https://pokepast.es/9b2ecfe11e163b33

vs Couple de Boule
G1: https://pokepast.es/1bac2e859eceb65b
G2: https://pokepast.es/c6adafaf3a16f01c

vs Naere
G1: https://pokepast.es/2ee9970666ca45ad
G2: https://pokepast.es/000ef663e1645d7b
G3: https://pokepast.es/f80e3230aba45c87
Quick notes on the teams vs Naere
G1: Voltorb is bulkier so you're able to switch in against every Wailmer sets, helps vs Hydro Pump attacks and you're not completely useless vs Trapinch and Diglett. See it as a better pivot that has better longevity than Elekid, but lacks the cleaning ability.
Trapinch is faster than Relaxed Porygon, so you're able to use toxic on it. Protect is there to scout vs CB Doduo so you're able to react their stabs with your Electric/Ghost mons. Atk invested Porygon OHKO's Abra btw.
G2: Use Protect vs Lead Doduo with your Snorunt so you can scout out Explosions, and especially vs CB Doduo. If they go Double Edge -> Shuppet, if Sky Attack -> Voltorb. Two Spikes let Cubone OHKO Porygon. It's a para team otherwise.
G3: DD Charmander can sweep a team if done right. Calcs below.
+1 200+ SpA Blaze Charmander Flamethrower vs. 236 HP / 0 SpD Porygon: 26-31 (100 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 200+ SpA Charmander Hidden Power Grass vs. 36 HP / 0 SpD Staryu: 22-26 (110 - 130%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 200+ SpA Charmander Hidden Power Grass vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Chinchou: 22-26 (91.6 - 108.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
You want to eliminate Wailmer and Trapinch in some way, which I've Wailmer and Voltorb for most normal teams. But I think it's a very matchup preparation since it takes too much effort to play around vs. Ponyta and Bagon, which is possible to build around but it's genuinely hard to stop them at the endgame even if they're niche atm.
Setup opportunities are kinda awful, but atm I've Porygon where you can use Sub to create 50/50 vs Porygon(or fish for para aight), and vs non-twave Elekid, having the ability to play around their sets as well. Check these calcs.
240 SpA Elekid Thunderbolt vs. 44 HP / 116 SpD Charmander: 13-16 (61.9 - 76.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
240 SpA Elekid Thief vs. 44 HP / 116 SpD Charmander: 4-5 (19 - 23.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO (unable to break Sub Charmander!!)
Charmander has a genuine niche that's very deadly if given the right position since a lot of teams are vulnerable against Fire + Grass combo.

There were more things I wanted to build in mind such as Will-o-Wisp Gastly + Sub Wailmer(Porygon's Return does 16.6 - 23.3% vs Physdef Wailmer lol), or using Lead Cubone with Beat Up + Pursuit Houndour. But I'll do that eventually another time since I've school and a NFE tournament to take care of. GGs to everyone and the ADV LC playerbase once again. Love y'all for giving me reasons to continue in this tier. Not sure I'll join ADVPL unless I'm clearing up my homework though.

 

[Zcarlett]

Also got knocked out of Porygons Bizarre Adventure, so I thought I'd do a team dump.

https://pokepast.es/69d8995ded9001c3 (Used W2 vs TRowe, W5 vs crow crumbs, and W6 vs Rarrae)
https://pokepast.es/048f7d602431f977 (Used W2 vs TRowe and W5 vs crow crumbs, shoutout to Quinn for helping me build this one)
https://pokepast.es/0354c92d86ea758a (Used W4 vs Franklin, W5 vs crow crumbs, and W6 vs Rarrae)
https://pokepast.es/d88b7a5fdf9c4ac7 (Do not remember what weeks I used this one)
https://pokepast.es/5ae1b9d019dc9120 (Used W5 vs Franklin)
https://pokepast.es/fde29927f53212b3 (Used W6 vs Rarrae)
https://pokepast.es/9b22b93fda9455b1 (Used W7 vs BP)
https://pokepast.es/ab204a930c8993b2 (Used W7 vs BP)

Big shoutout to Shing, reggg, and Quinn for double checking teams and helping prep

Also rank Machop that guy is a chiller

 

[grape tylenol]

Tournament Announcements
The ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure tournament is still going, but what if you've been eliminated, missed it entirely, or just can't get enough ADV LC? Thankfully there are two upcoming opportunities to play ADV LC in a team tournament, which you can read about below. If you prefer individual tournaments, keep an eye on this thread as there may be some coming up!

LPL 12 Signups Now Open
Player signups for LPL 12 (Levi's Premier League) are now open. LPL is a popular Discord team tournament featuring many generations of Little Cup as well as LC UU, LC RU and Doubles LC! Like last year, ADV LC will be included as well!

LPL is a great team tournament for players who are new to the community. Even if you go undrafted, you will still have a chance to play on the scrubs team! If you are looking to make a name for yourself in ADV LC in a team tournament environment, this is a great place to start.

To sign up for LPL 12, join the Discord and fill out the player signup form. Player signups will close March 24th, 1:00PM GMT-4.

ADVPL 4
If you haven't already seen, ADV LC will be included in ADVPL 4! This is very exciting news for both players and spectators, as I am sure this tournament will deliver some excellent games. Be on the lookout for when player signups go up on March 17th!

 

[grape tylenol]

Tournament Announcements Part 2

keep an eye on this thread as there may be some coming up!

Perhaps a little sooner than I expected, more opportunities to play ADV LC in tournament are here!

ADVPL 4 Signups Now Open
As previously mentioned, signups for ADVPL 4 are now open! If you are interested in playing, make a post in the player signup thread.

ADV LC Cup in LC Classic 3
If you are interested in an individual tournament featuring ADV LC, look no further than this year's ADV LC Cup! Featured for the first time in LC Classic (which you can read more about here,) ADV LC Cup will be a single elimination tournament and should be a much smaller commitment than the ongoing ADV LC Open tournament. If you're interested in trying the tier out, this is a great tournament to get started in while also potentially earning points towards the 2024 LC Tournament circuit!

Player signups will go up on April 7th and as always will be linked in a post here as well as in the ADV LC Discord.

 

[Kaboom]

With ADVPL underway we have our first look at ADV LC in a premiere league, and with that the 8 starters (+support) drafted to represent the best of the tier's player base for their teams. Hats off to everyone thats been along for the ride since the tiers revival. In less than a year we managed to make astounding progress.

Here are some of the prior accomplishments in the tier for the players:

Spartoi Elites

Eric: Top 6 of Todd Bonzalez's ADV LC Open.
Naere: Top 6 of ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure (still actively in the tour as of this post), 3-1 in the 2nd RoA Spotlight tour.

Girafarig Gang

Electricity Cat: top 16 of ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure. Top 3 of Todd Bonzalez's ADV LC Open.
Trade: top 48 of ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure.

Aquacorde Anglerfish

HSOWA: top 16 Todd Bonzalez's ADV LC Open. top 6 of ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure (as of this post still in the tour)
Kaboom: top 12 Todd Bonzalez's ADV LC Open. top 64 of ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure

Goo Goo Claydolls

Reggg: Won the second RoA Spotlight tour. Top 16 of both ADV LC Opens
Gawain: Top 32 of Todd Bonzalez's ADV LC Open. Top 24 of ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure

Whirlands Kingdras

RoyalReloaded: Top 6 of ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure (currently still in it as of this post)
Arcanine#s: Top 12 of ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure.

Scythe Lords

Quinn: Winner of Todd Bonzalez's ADV LC Open. Top 64 of ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure

Sky Pillar Salamences

Cawil Maxmad: top 12 of ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure
Zcarlett: top 48 ADV LC Open: Porygon's Bizarre Adventure. 3-1 in 2nd RoA spotlight
Hacker: Smelly, but one of the best LCers in general atm so can't sleep on him despite not having tour experience in the tier.

Locked in Magnetons

TKO: Similar to Hacker

Heres my personal PRs w/ reasoning (obv not listing me or my teammate).

PRs

1. Goo Goo Claydols:
With my building partner Reggg at the helm and a player with respectable results in Gawain they have a solid duo with proven results in the tier. Extremely competent builders and really digging deep in their bag to build for opps. Only thing stopping Reggg from confidently taking the win over most of the pool will be getting tilted from early variance or unorthodox sets pushing him out of his comfort zone. Could also time out like in lcwc :wow:
2. Scythe Lords:
Quinn is an extremely capable pilot and throughout his time playing adv lc has inspired a few major shifts in the meta. Despite being without support in the team he should be able to comfortably innovate and control the game.
3. Girafarig Gang:
Electricity Cat despite not interacting much with the adv LC community has impressed everyone with their extremely consistent results and gameplay. Very excited to see them play more. Trade is another competent player that should compliment Ecat very well and do well if every slotted in over Ecat.
4. Sky Pillar Salamences:
Cawil is a bit of an unassuming player despite top 12 in the latest tour, but can't let him catch you off guard. Creative and extremely solid. Zcarlett was building with Naere for most of their PBA run and should be excellent support for Cawil or stepping in if the former gets busy with School. Hacker is someone you can eventually toss in to clean up the mess if the mainers disappoint as long as hes given reasonable squads.
5. Spartoi Elites:
Eric had an extremely early exit in PBA, but his results in Todd Bonzalez's don't lie. If Naere is able to properly catch them up on the current meta they can be a solid pilot and take some surprise wins. Naere as a player has some question marks because their current strong run in PBA has a fair bit of variance behind it, but theres nothing they can do to control that. I consider them pretty solid and when given the chance to play should also put up some fights against the top 3 of the pool.
6. Whirlands Kingdras:
These two are the biggest wildcards in the tier. They've both made it far in the latest tour, but Royal doesn't really interact with the community, and Arcanine#'s strength as support is not something a lot of people can confidently speak on. I'm putting them low just because they are difficult to properly rate, but that doesn't mean they can't have a strong showing.
7. Locked-in Magnetons:
TKO is on an island with virtually no experience with the tier, so its hard to justify putting him any higher than here. Generally strong Mons player so if he can get a foothold you could see him outpreforming majority of the slots off experience and skill alone.

Week 1 matchups w/ my predictions below:

ADV LC: Éric vs ElectricityCat

ADV LC: HSOWA vs reggg

ADV LC: RoyalReloaded vs Quinn

ADV LC: Cawil Maxamad vs tko
-------
ADV LC: Éric vs ElectricityCat

ADV LC: RoyalReloaded vs Quinn

ADV LC: Cawil Maxamad vs tko