I've been playing ADV OU for a while now. It's my favourite metagame, it feels quite balanced and generally has few things that are really annoying. This is the first team that I have built that I would say isn't completely dreadful. I peaked with it around the late 1400s ELO which was a bit of milestone for me. Since it's my first team, and first RMT post, I would appreciate any advice on how to make it less bad, thank you :)
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Focus Punch
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Bug]
So this was the main reason I wanted to make a team since I couldn't find a sample team with CB Tar on it. I read the smogon page and the part with teammates said it works best on balanced/defensive teams so I kind of went from there lol. I love sand, it's my favourite thing about this meta and Tar as a mon is just really fun to use. I love breakers and people don't usually expect your Tar to have CB. It has good lead matchups with the only issues being Fighting types, physical Mence with brick break and dug. I also just like creating sand ASAP to punish suicune, lax, blissey and other blobs. I have won games even when he goes down early, but it's good to keep it around to deal with resting suicune or other late game shenanigans.
Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
- Earthquake
Forre feels like they fit on the balance nature of the team. I felt like I needed spikes for a bit more offensive pressure and rapid spin for the mostly grounded squad. It's also nice to have an emergency explosion in the back. I have EQ rather than HP bug in case I want to feel like a true gamer and predict the incoming mag, but generally I have just found it to be more useful. I have two CB users with bug coverage so it feels like I check celebi and claydol well enough.
Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Aerial Ace
- Rock Slide
ABR said it was good, so... Really, though, it feels like such a reliable revenge killer and provides just a bit more offense. Honestly, if I was going to cut one I might say dug as it covers a lot of the same bases as Tar, but its useful to deal with a low health blissey so idk.
Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 8 SpA / 112 SpD / 96 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
Needed a spin blocker. Defensive feels necessary as an emergency DD mence/flygon check. I sort of miss Wisp but I felt a bit weak into pert as celebi can tend to get worn down with stray ice beams and such. Taunt feels like too good of a utility option and Tbolt and ice punch feel kind of necessary - ice for the aforementioned dragon checks and Tbolt for starmie and skarm and just finishing off low health mons. This is another aspect of the team I am not sure about.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Surf
Mandatory rock resist. Not much to say, just generally good at what it does. I prefer surf for the accuracy but I think its just personal preference as far as I can tell, they basically do the same thing. I also dabbled with roar which is otherwise missing and did come in useful at times, but I missed all the other options. If I don't have protect on pert I feel a bit vulnerable to getting warn down by aero, I like to check the lock in and switch accordingly.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 76 SpA / 36 SpD / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Leech Seed
- Psychic
- Recover
Celebi feels useful to check zap and most other special threats. Starmie is a bit more annoying and so is offensive suicune, but having psychic feels really nice into gengar whereas bliss can feel a bit helpless if it's taunt/wisp/explode. Leech seed is also just a nice free click. Again, feel like I am a bit dubious about this one, especially the EV spread - I just took it from the defensive CM smogon set but swapped out CM for HP grass. Idk if there is a better spread for my purposes.
So yeah, I don't think this team is perfect at all, but I have enjoyed playing with it so far. Very happy for any and all suggestions :)
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Focus Punch
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Bug]
So this was the main reason I wanted to make a team since I couldn't find a sample team with CB Tar on it. I read the smogon page and the part with teammates said it works best on balanced/defensive teams so I kind of went from there lol. I love sand, it's my favourite thing about this meta and Tar as a mon is just really fun to use. I love breakers and people don't usually expect your Tar to have CB. It has good lead matchups with the only issues being Fighting types, physical Mence with brick break and dug. I also just like creating sand ASAP to punish suicune, lax, blissey and other blobs. I have won games even when he goes down early, but it's good to keep it around to deal with resting suicune or other late game shenanigans.
Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
- Earthquake
Forre feels like they fit on the balance nature of the team. I felt like I needed spikes for a bit more offensive pressure and rapid spin for the mostly grounded squad. It's also nice to have an emergency explosion in the back. I have EQ rather than HP bug in case I want to feel like a true gamer and predict the incoming mag, but generally I have just found it to be more useful. I have two CB users with bug coverage so it feels like I check celebi and claydol well enough.
Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Aerial Ace
- Rock Slide
ABR said it was good, so... Really, though, it feels like such a reliable revenge killer and provides just a bit more offense. Honestly, if I was going to cut one I might say dug as it covers a lot of the same bases as Tar, but its useful to deal with a low health blissey so idk.
Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 8 SpA / 112 SpD / 96 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
Needed a spin blocker. Defensive feels necessary as an emergency DD mence/flygon check. I sort of miss Wisp but I felt a bit weak into pert as celebi can tend to get worn down with stray ice beams and such. Taunt feels like too good of a utility option and Tbolt and ice punch feel kind of necessary - ice for the aforementioned dragon checks and Tbolt for starmie and skarm and just finishing off low health mons. This is another aspect of the team I am not sure about.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Surf
Mandatory rock resist. Not much to say, just generally good at what it does. I prefer surf for the accuracy but I think its just personal preference as far as I can tell, they basically do the same thing. I also dabbled with roar which is otherwise missing and did come in useful at times, but I missed all the other options. If I don't have protect on pert I feel a bit vulnerable to getting warn down by aero, I like to check the lock in and switch accordingly.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 76 SpA / 36 SpD / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Leech Seed
- Psychic
- Recover
Celebi feels useful to check zap and most other special threats. Starmie is a bit more annoying and so is offensive suicune, but having psychic feels really nice into gengar whereas bliss can feel a bit helpless if it's taunt/wisp/explode. Leech seed is also just a nice free click. Again, feel like I am a bit dubious about this one, especially the EV spread - I just took it from the defensive CM smogon set but swapped out CM for HP grass. Idk if there is a better spread for my purposes.
So yeah, I don't think this team is perfect at all, but I have enjoyed playing with it so far. Very happy for any and all suggestions :)