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ADV OU Sample Teams
Banner by TBD. Thread maintained by the ADV moderation team.
ADV OU Sample Teams
Welcome to the wonderful tier that is ADV OU!
To get you started, we are providing a bunch of free teams! These are teams that have mostly made their way into the history books of ADV, they represent ADV's major archetypes. Over time, this thread may become outdated, so if you think any team should be added or removed, let a moderator know. If you're looking for teams that have left their print on the ADV metagame, but have fallen in usage and relevance in ADV's landscape lately, you can refer to this post.
Each archetype comes with a general description of its philosophy, while each team comes with its own description so that you can have at least a rough idea of how it works. Some of these have been around for a really long time now but rest assured, the pastes we're providing here are updated with modern versions of these teams.
Click on the Pokemon sprites to get the paste!
Spikes_______________________________
Balance
Big 5 + Starmie (Beerlover) – by UD
Forretress Gengar Dug – by M Dragon
Gengar + Jirachi "Superman" TSS – by ADV Community
Moltres "Superman" TSS – by Golden Sun
SkarmMag + Aerodactyl TSS – by ABR
MixMence Claydol TSS – by ADV Community
Zapdos MixMence Forre TSS – by ADV Community
Offense
Special Wall-less TSS "El clásico" – by Hclat
Jolteon Starmie Spikes Stack – by Kerts
Zapdos + AeroBi Spikes Offense – by Shitrock enjoyer
DDTar + Starmie Spikes Offense – by Shitrock enjoyer
Regice Spikes Offense – by Jirachee
Charizard Spikes Offense – by Shitrock enjoyer
Stall
Tyranitar + MiloDol TSS – by Zokuru
Zapdos + CuneDol – by ADV Community
Triple Natural Cure – by ABR
Suicune + MiloDol ("Vir5in") – by Kerts
Curse RestLax ForreDol – by ABR
Hyper Offense
Smeargle Offense – by ADV Community
Trappers Spike-less_______________________________
Offense
Blue Offense – by Noitu
Medicham Cune Offense – by Mana
Aero SD Pass – by z0mOG
ZapDug – by ADV Community
Jynx Special Offense – by Hclat
Quad Band – by M Dragon
Balance
CB Mence MagDol – by BKC
Trap-less Spike-less_______________________________
Offense
Charizard Houdini CMPass – by SEA
CBMeta CroCune Skarm beatdown – by ADV Community
MixZap Houdini DDTar MixOff – by ADV Community
WishJira Skarm Beatdown – by Astamatitos
Raikou Celebi Slop – by Shitrock enjoyer
Balance
Yama BandMence – by ADV Community
Balance
Big 5 + Starmie (Beerlover) – by UD
The quintessential TSS style of ADV, this team features bulky physical Tyranitar (often called BKCTar), which can break opposing defensive cores easily with the help of Spikes. Gengar acts as an offensive spinblocker, spreading burns and generating momentum with Explosion (which is very important to punish opposing bulky Water-types). Swampert is a defensive response that punishes Rock-types and other kinds of physical pressuring pieces while boasting crucial longevity in sand. This is augmented by Skarmory, which sponges strong attacks and potential explosions. Blissey acts as the special wall; however, its EV spread and moveset are very offensive oriented, punishing Steel-types with Fire Blast and other defensive pieces with Toxic. The offensive Starmie version, popularized by UD and colloquially known as Beerlover, utilizes the Pokémon as speed and Spikes control, helping the team deal with chipped Pokémon and Water-types that can otherwise be troublesome.
Forretress Gengar Dug – by M Dragon
Featuring a very standard balance structure, this team adds Dugtrio to the equation. Arena Trap enables Dugtrio to revenge-kill targets that would otherwise be threatening to the defensive core, like Celebi, Jirachi, and Tyranitar. Forretress is the main progress maker of the team due to Spikes, but it's also capable of removing them with Rapid Spin; with this in mind, ghost-type Pokémon might try to negate Forretress's hazard removal capabilities. Pursuit Tyranitar comes in handy, being capable of eliminating ghost types and Rapid Spin users (Claydol and Starmie), while also threatening Choice-Band-locked Salamence or Aerodactyl. Blissey and Swampert act as the special and defensive walls, respectively. Gengar functions as a Rapid Spin denier itself, while also checking a multitude of threats (Flygon, Salamence, Suicune, etc). With its access to Explosion, Gengar can keep most of the metagame in check as long as Dugtrio manages to revenge-kill the Pokémon in question right after.
Gengar + Jirachi "Superman" TSS – by ADV Community
One of the oldest styles in ADV, Superman's gameplan is based around trading Spikes with the opponent, while having most of your team members hover above them, ensuring the Spikes damage will be more impactful on the opposing side. Flygon and Jirachi are your main physical checks; Flygon being Spikes immune, and Jirachi being Toxic immune and able to heal your teammates with Wish. Tyranitar with Pursuit helps to keep your team from being destroyed by Gengar and fire birds like Moltres and Charizard. Rest Zapdos works as a special check alongside Gengar, who helps keep Spikes up and break opposing SkarmBliss, with Destiny Bond as a last resort move against Calm Mind Pokémon.
Moltres "Superman" TSS – by Golden Sun
Functioning as an offensive version of the previous Superman squad, this team (made by Golden Sun) should be played similarly; however, there is a key difference: the lack of Fire Blast on Tyranitar. As a result, the green kaiju is unable to heavily damage Skarmory, meaning that a combination of Jirachi’s Fire Punch and Gengar’s super-effective moves becomes the team’s primary way to wear it down. At the same time, opting for Moltres over Zapdos makes this structure stronger against offensive teams; yet, the absence of a secondary special wall places more pressure on Jirachi. Spikes serves as the team’s main progress-making tool alongside Toxic, which means Gengar must reliably fulfill its role as a spinblocker. Destiny Bond is particularly useful for removing Rapid Spin users, as well as dealing with potential last-mon Snorlax or Suicune scenarios.
SkarmMag + Aerodactyl TSS – by ABR
This style combines the strength of Spikes while easily dealing with opposing Skarmory by trapping it with Magneton. Not having to deal with opposite Skarmory long term allows the team to double down on defensive sets that can't really touch Skarmory well. Blissey and defensive Celebi form a decent barrier against most attacks, while Curse Rest Swampert can take physical hits and help break defensive squads. Aero works as a speed support and fast cleaner, while giving another barrier against mixed attackers. Even with bold Blissey to help deal with uninvested physical moves, be aware that mixed attackers and Gengar can be difficult to deal with. Overall, an interesting style to surprise your opponents.
MixMence Claydol TSS – by ADV Community
A classic mixed Salamence Spikes team that has solid ways to pressure opposing teams with midground moves and the help of Spikes. Pieces like Tyranitar and Metagross break for Salamence, while Blissey absorbs special attacks while retaliating with its own. Claydol helps deal with opposing Spikes, especially in this "beat down" style for opposing Skarmory. While not performing this function alone, the combination of Salamence's Intimidate, Metagross, and Claydol acts as a solution against opposing Tyranitar.
Zapdos MixMence Forre TSS – by ADV Community
Forretress is a very interesting Spiker, providing the role compression of Spikes+spin and being able to limit Skarmory's Spikes to zero most of the time. However, being a grounded Pokémon, Forretress is ironically weak to Spikes itself, so guaranteeing its spin is tougher than it looks. Pursuit Tyranitar is the ideal partner for Forretress, helping to fight against the spin-blocker problem and also being able to punish other flying Pokémon like Charizard. Swampert is the main defensive backbone as usual, and Blissey provides speed control and Aromatherapy support to help deal with the lack of Toxic immunities. Rest Zapdos can dish out powerful hits with the help of Spikes while also being an important anti-setup measure with Roar. Mixed Salamence with Wish can help ameliorate the damage taken on pivots while still being a powerful Spikes abuser.
Offense
Special Wall-less TSS "El clásico" – by Hclat
Popularized by Hclat, this team has a similar gameplan to AeroBi teams, doubling down on Rock-types to overwhelm opposing defenses with the help of Spikes. However, the addition of Gengar and defensive Refresh Swampert allows the team to play slower against other balance matchups and have a Ghost-type to spinblock. Be aware that, by not having an Electric resist, Electric-type attacks need to be dealt with by pivoting the defensive pieces and eventually putting the opposing Electric-type into a bad position.
Jolteon Starmie Spikes Stack – by Kerts
Jolteon is a fast early game Zapdos answer that generates a lot of momentum by absorbing attacks and forcing specific lines. The ability to force switches additionally makes it a great Spikes abuser. Gengar acts as a spinblocker while still maintaining special momentum with an offensive set. Starmie punishes potential Ground-type Pokémon that might be used to answer Jolteon, and provides offensive pressure with its high speed stat and wide movepool. Tyranitar and Metagross act as a way to punish Blissey/Snorlax, while helping break through opposing defenses. Claydol can cause trouble to most Jolteon squads, so its important to keep Skarmory decently healthy to deal with a potential spin. Cloyster can be used as a Spiker to help against the Claydol matchup while also being a more offensive option, being able to dish a powerful Surf and force damage on switch-ins like Gengar while threatening Explosion.
Zapdos + AeroBi Spikes Offense – by Shitrock enjoyer
Aerobi teams are based around the concept of overwhelming opposing defenses with Pokémon that share offensive profiles; for example, Dragon Dance Tyranitar lures in physical walls and opens holes on enemy teams, making them weaker to Aerodactyl's attacks. Spikes should be prioritized in the early game, helping all the attackers make offensive progress through midground moves. Celebi and Zapdos work as the defensive profile of the team, checking Water-type Pokémon and other resisted moves while still dishing out powerful moves under sand and Spikes; Swampert is a defensive check that helps against opposing physical attackers while still hitting hard with invested Hydro Pump.
DDTar + Starmie Spikes Offense – by Shitrock enjoyer
A more offensive take on the combination of Spikes and mixed Salamence. This team aims to generate early game momentum with Spikes and Pokémon like offensive Celebi, which pressure the opponent to react with switches and allow spikes chip to ramp up. Tyranitar helps break physically defensive pieces to facilitate a Agility Metagross endgame, while offensive Starmie provides crucial speed control while also managing Spikes. The goal of this team is to focus on making positive trades and effectively converting to an endgame win condition.
Regice Spikes Offense – by Jirachee
Regice is arguably the best lead Skarmory partner, being able to generate lots of offensive momentum when switching into lead Zapdos which is one of the few matchups that Skarm cannot spike into. Thunder Waving a Tyranitar or Metagross on the switch or threatening Skarmory with super effective moves can be crucial for the development of the game, while threatening Explosion into special checks can be helpful for Suicune and Gengar. Gengar oppresses offensively with great coverage and the threat of Explosion, while providing spinblock support. Sleep Talk Suicune is a great midgame breaker that can exploit the holes made by the other offensive pressure Pokémon. Agility Metagross provides a defensive physical check to the team while taking advantage of simplified positions to set up with Agility and clean chipped pokémon. Claydol provides Rapid Spin support, works defensively for the team and runs a high speed investment to explode possible slow setup Pokémon like Suicune.
Charizard Spikes Offense – by Shitrock enjoyer
Decently unexplored, however extremely effective, Charizard with Spikes support is a powerful combination that aims to use the chip damage caused from spikes to help Charizard achieve the damage ranges to get KOs it usually wouldn't. Dragon Dance Tyranitar works as the main breaker and trader at the early stages of the game, baiting in and trading down with Water-type Pokémon, allowing defensive Flygon to be more effective at checking opposing attackers. Fire Blast on Flygon has a similar effect as Hidden Power Fire on mixed Metagross, as Flygon lures in Skarmory and can kill it before too many spikes go down if it catches the switch-in. Jirachi can Calm Mind and break defensive structures with ease, while Zapdos acts as a check to many threats with Thunder Wave and powerful moves under Spikes. Charizard, while being an effective damage dealer, helps mitigate the Jirachi and Celebi weakness on the team, while being able to switch into some moves like Meteor Mash and Will-o-Wisp and reverse momentum in those interactions. This particular squad was used by Fruhdazi in the Jimothy Cool Invitational I.
Stall
Tyranitar + MiloDol TSS – by Zokuru
Blissey and Milotic are two Pokémon that often feel impossible to eliminate when paired together. However, as bulky as they are, they can also be considered quite passive. To address this issue, the team employs passive damage strategies such as Skarmory’s Spikes and Tyranitar’s sand; together, this duo also provides defensive stability to an already resilient core, particularly against normal-type moves. Offensively, Tyranitar is a key component of the team, as its physical power offers an effective way to pressure opposing walls and wallbreakers alike. The game plan centers on wearing down threats such as Calm Mind Jirachi, Heracross, and Dragon Dance Salamence through Sand, Spikes, and Toxic, or eliminating them outright with Dugtrio, while using Claydol to remove opposing Spikes. This process continues until there is nothing left capable of breaking through Blissey and Milotic.
Zapdos + CuneDol – by ADV Community
A timeless team. Rest Zapdos and Thunder Wave Blissey can handle most special attackers outside of Calm Mind Blissey, Celebi, and Jirachi, while Suicune’s longevity allows it to comfortably manage threats such as Tyranitar, Metagross, and Swampert. Suicune also serves as a powerful win condition thanks to Calm Mind and Roar, which, when combined with Skarmory’s Spikes and Dugtrio’s oppressive presence, will eventually break through most defensive walls and typical Suicune answers. As strong as this may sound, the team is extremely dependent on Spikes and on removing opposing hazards with Claydol, much like most stall builds. To fully capitalize on the team’s strengths, Skarmory must be used carefully: it should aim to set Spikes multiple times when facing a spinner; Suicune should avoid unnecessary damage whenever possible; and finally, Blissey is more than capable of absorbing physical hits in exchange for spreading Thunder Wave on threats such as Snorlax, Salamence, and Metagross. The matchup against Aerodactyl should be played carefully, as the Fossil Pokémon can be extremely threatening in the late game.
Triple Natural Cure – by ABR
A more defensive take on the mixed Salamence Spikes concept, this team utilizes defensive Starmie as Spikes control and a paralysis spreader to facilitate Salamence's breaking potential and help the team defensively against fast threats. Defensive Celebi scares out potential setup threats like Snorlax and Suicune, while sponging Water-type attacks and forcing switches under Spikes. Metagross acts as your main physically defensive answer, especially because it has Salamence's Intimidate support; however, it can also function as a potent breaker against slower teams. Blissey provides Wish support to help with the longevity of your defensive pieces, while still sponging special moves.
Suicune + MiloDol ("Vir5in") – by Kerts
One of the most popular defensive Dugtrio structures; this team specializes in winning the Spikes game by utilizing Skarmory as a reliable long term spiker and Claydol as a spinner, while maintaining a solid defensive backbone to minimize the amount of health lost on Skarmory. Blissey and Milotic are the bread and butter of the defensive core utilized by Kerts in the "Vir5in" team presented on this paste (often known as Virgin 5), sponging special and mixed/physical attacks, respectively. Suicune complements the defensive core while also being a good phazer ("pseudo hazer"; a pokemon with roar or similar) and a potent breaker for the endgame. Dugtrio is the star of the team, eliminating offensive cores and wallbreakers that would otherwise tear the team apart. Spikes chip damage is important to make Dugtrio one hit KO Pokémon that would normally take an attack and eliminate the Choice Banded Ground-type Pokémon.
Curse RestLax ForreDol – by ABR
One of the most divisive teams in ADV history, this composition centers around a core of Rest Suicune, Blissey, and Rest Snorlax, which collectively keep the majority of the metagame in check and result in a team that is extremely difficult to break through. What elevates it to the next level is the inclusion of Forretress and Spikes, as many of the most common team structures struggle to push past more than one extremely bulky Pokémon without eventually succumbing to Spikes damage. Many of the tier’s most common wallbreakers—such as Calm Mind Jirachi, Dragon Dance Tyranitar, and Raikou—can be trapped by Dugtrio, whose disruptive nature, thanks to Arena Trap, forces opponents into awkward lines and suboptimal decisions as they attempt to avoid being trapped. Claydol is also more than capable of removing threats like Dragon Dance Salamence or Calm Mind Blissey on its own through Explosion, while simultaneously clearing Spikes with Rapid Spin. When paired with Thunder Wave Blissey, this makes meaningful progress extremely difficult to achieve. Finally, Sunny Day on Claydol serves to remove sand, allowing Leftovers to function effectively and restore HP on sand-vulnerable Pokémon.
Hyper Offense
Smeargle Offense – by ADV Community
Smeargle Spikes teams are fast paced offensive teams that rely on a suicide lead with sleep support to create an advantage on the first turns of the game. Smeargle thrives on being able to Spikes or Spore on most of the common leads of the meta. Dragon Dance Tyranitar helps break physical defenses, facilitating the late game Liechi Aerodactyl setup. Endeavor Swampert acts as a check for physical attacks, while still threatening defensive cores with the combination of Roar and Endeavor alongside Spikes. Mixed Metagross acts as an early game Skarmory beater and wallbreaker, while also providing defensive utility for the team. Gengar is an important piece on the squad, spinblocking and being able to explode to turn around momentum for your team. This is especially important considering sinking momentum and letting spinners work freely are the scariest things for Smeargle teams.
Offense
Blue Offense – by Noitu
With its signature monotone color palette, Blue Offense is one of the most iconic Magneton offense squads. Lead Suicune threatens Tyranitar out and forces favorable early sequences. Suicune is also very flexible in the lead slot, both defensively as a bulky Water-type and offensively as a setup breaker and sweeper. Snorlax is your main special check, coming into special moves and forcing switches. It also beats down the incoming pokémon with strong physical moves, while always threatening Explosion. Banded Metagross is a powerful breaker and a one-time-check to most physical pokémon, while mixed Salamence is a key anti-offense piece. Heracross, with the help of Magneton's weather clearing potential, can work as a cleaner with the combination of Sub-Salac + Swords Dance + Swarm.
Medicham Cune Offense – by Mana
Medicham is one of the most threatening leads in the metagame, being able to scare Tyranitar out and create advantageous positions against most of the possible switch-ins. This team, popularized by Mana, takes advantage of the early lines and chip damage Medicham can force. Salamence and Suicune enjoy dealing with chipped Flying-type Pokémon, Magneton can easily trap chipped Metagross, and other Pokémon like Gengar are outright countered by Lum Berry Medicham. Snorlax acts as your main special check and progress-maker against early game Zapdos and other special attackers. Calm Suicune (also known as ManaCune) can win the duel against Calm Mind Blissey and help deal with Zapdos. Agility Metagross acts as a physical check that can also blow holes through opponents' defenses and close out games.
Aero SD Pass – by z0mOG
Another classic archetype, Swords Dance Baton Pass Celebi can support a lot of strong sweepers, turning fast cleaner Pokémon into breakers. However, Celebi needs a lot of support itself to achieve this scenario. Pursuit Tyranitar helps deal with Gengar and Fire-types that annoy attack-less Celebi. Magneton eliminates Skarmory, which would otherwise phaze Celebi without issues. Leech Seed helps Celebi deal with other Roar Pokémon and give it long term survivability, while Recover works in short term situations. Swampert acts as your main physical check, relieving Metagross of the defensive check role. Metagross and Liechi Aerodactyl are your main breakers and sweepers, one being able to break defenses to facilitate the work of the other.
ZapDug – by ADV Community
ZapDug teams abuse the many structures that utilize Blissey as their main Zapdos check in the early turns. Beat up bulky Dugtrio can easily trap Blissey, living an Ice Beam without Spikes chip damage, and Baton Pass Zapdos enables this interaction. Mixed Metagross and Claydol work together as the main Skarmory bait+Spikes clearing combination on this squad, while acting as the defensive backbone of the team. Suicune can help break defensive cores and open holes in offensive ones, while still helping check some of the offensive threats like Salamence. Calm Mind + 3 attacks Celebi is a potent cleaner for the late game.
Jynx Special Offense – by Hclat
Like ZapDug, Jynx teams rely on Dugtrio to trap Blissey and open space for your special threats to break the opposing defenses. However, Jynx starts the game instantly threatening opposing Pokémon with Lovely Kiss and Calm Mind. Being a more glass-cannon play style, Suicune can be used early game to overwhelm opposing defenses. This will usually open up setup situations for Substitute Jirachi, a strong cleaner Pokémon that heavily abuses passive sets. Claydol is a defensive check that also helps teammates by removing Spikes, and Gengar acts as a Normal-type attack switch-in that also helps generate offensive momentum for the squad.
Quad Band – by M Dragon
Popularized by M Dragon, this team features 4 Choice Band users. It showcased the concept of overwhelming opposing defenses by utilizing banded Tyranitar and banded Metagross as hard hitters early game, crippling opposing walls into Dug range, then allowing Aero to clean at the endgame. Zapdos is your main special defense check, with the ability to toxic opposing threats and Rest off damage. Swampert provides its usual defensive sturdiness against physical threats.
Balance
CB Mence MagDol – by BKC
This style of team specializes in reliably trapping Skarmory and spinning Spikes away afterwards. With Spikes gone, grounded Pokémon can exercise better defensive functions and have more longevity. Magneton can be extremely helpful to cripple other Steel-type Pokémon like Metagross and Jirachi after Skarmory is gone. It also carries Sunny Day, clearing Sand for Suicune, Blissey, and Salamence once Tyranitar is fainted. Banded Salamence is the main progress maker against slower Pokémon, while Metagross and Suicune can both provide breaking potential and physical resistances for the team. Blissey sponges special attacks and can heal up teammates with Wish
Offense
Charizard Houdini CMPass – by SEA
Calm Mind Baton Pass is an effective way to break through special checks and offensively threaten most teams. Popularized by SEA, this team takes advantage of the Skarmory-luring capabilities of Metagross to use Banded Explosion and kill it in one hit. This type of gameplan is often referred to as "Houdini" because it "disappears", just like the real life illusionist. Celebi takes advantage of free turns to Calm Mind up and pass it to its teammates, while Zapdos can take advantage of its boosts and still keep up the baton pass chain. Dragon Dance Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar is an effective way to deal with Swampert and break opponents' defenses, while Substitute Swampert can both act as a defensive piece for the team and a Blissey breaker. Charizard complements the team offensively, threatening opposing Calm Minders and dishing powerful Fire-type moves, especially if boosted by Celebi's Calm Minds.
CBMeta CroCune Skarm beatdown – by ADV Community
A classic spikesless archetype, this team style utilizes many Pokémon that can lure Skarmory in with the intention of heavily chipping its HP. It also typically boasts spin support to clear up the spikes acquired in the process. Banded Metagross is one of the most consistent Skarmory beaters and early game breakers, while still being a defensive piece with the help of Salamence's Intimidate. Snorlax serves a similar purpose; however, it is targeted at punishing special attackers instead of physical ones. Pursuit Tyranitar is important to eliminate Gengar and alleviate moveslot choices on your other Pokémon, while still helping check other fliers. Suicune is an important breaker for the team, and Salamence takes advantage of the simplified positions to clean up in endgames.
MixZap Houdini DDTar MixOff – by ADV Community
Similarly to the Charizard Calm Mind Pass, this team also shares the "Houdini" gameplan; however, it has a different take on the breakers chosen to accompany it. Mixed Zapdos is an interesting Celebi punisher, while still forcing damage with its special attacks and checking troublesome Pokémon like Starmie. Swampert is a defensive force with offensive capabilities, while Tyranitar provides offensive breaking power with defensive capabilities. Jirachi is a powerful breaker with enough bulk to Calm Mind in the face of multiple special attackers, and Salamence takes advantage of a beaten up team to impact late game with Dragon Dance.
WishJira Skarm Beatdown – by Astamatitos
A more defensive take on the Skarmory beatdown style of team. This squad features Wish Jirachi to help with the longevity of its pieces, while still being able to threaten Skarmory long-term. Mixed Salamence is a fast threat to many offensive mons. Snorlax and Jirachi have the role of luring Skarmory into entering the pitch to chip it early game, limiting the amount of Spikes it can stack. Claydol cleans the residual Spikes up while it threatens Explosion, being able of forcing progress that way. Pursuit Tyranitar alleviates the ghost weakness of the team, and it checks Flying-type Pokémon in a pinch. Suicune can help break opposing walls midgame and is still able to clean up endgames after most of the pieces are traded up.
Raikou Celebi Slop – by Shitrock enjoyer
Commonly known as "Slop", this Fruhdazi creation is the most recent addition to the Hyper Offense of ADV OU. Built around a distinctly setup-sweeper–driven structure, this team focuses on opening winning paths for one of its multiple sweepers by forcing trades. As a heavily gameplan-oriented team, it is crucial to understand that Dragon Dance Tyranitar and Endeavor Swampert are fundamental to its success. Tyranitar should use Dragon Dance on turn one against every Pokémon not named Metagross, then attack whatever is in front of it on turn two; its goal, much like Endeavor Swampert’s, is to weaken its checks and counters as much as possible to enable a sweep from one of its partners in crime. Registeel acts as the team’s sponge, being capable of taking at least one hit from virtually any Pokémon, spreading paralysis or toxic poison, and ultimately exploding to secure momentum. Finally, depending on the state of the game, one of Calm Mind Celebi, Calm Mind Raikou, or Dragon Dance Salamence will serve as the cleaner, dismantling the remaining Pokémon in the endgame. The main objective of the team is to overwhelm the opponent’s defensive core.
Balance
Yama BandMence – by ADV Community
Hariyama is a very unique Pokémon in the metagame, being the only fighter with access to the move knock off. By removing opposing items, Hariyama can force progress very easily even without spikes, being great at punishing Pokémon like Blissey and Skarmory. Choice Band Salamence complements Yama well, providing a better matchup against offense with access to intimidate and great coverage moves. Salamence also takes advantage of Knock Off support to break through now itemless defensive threats. Suicune and Jirachi offer defensive profile for your team while supporting the squad in different ways, with Wish on Jirachi as well as both being capable of breaking walls long term. Blissey sponges special attacks and supports the team with Aromatherapy to cover for the lack of status immunities, and Claydol helps clean up spikes and force damage on opposing threats.
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