OU ADV OU Teambuilding Competition

[Joaf]

Op from DPP Forums
ADV Teambuilding Competition
Art Pending
​

Welcome to the brand new ADV OU Teambuilding Competition thread! Each week I will post a new Pokemon, core or set, and it’s up to you to make the best possibile team out of it! Every time you post a new team, you will have to provide an explanation of the building process, strength and weaknesses, and the importable of the team itself. Each month will have a new requirement/restriction in the teambuilder. The winner of each month will get their team inducted into the Hall of Fame as well as a fun name color (some restrictions apply) in the Smogon ADV Discord Server.

Each round will begin at the start of the month, with 3 weeks of submissions, and the final week for the judges to rank teams individually remaining and declare the winner for that month.

To enter, submit your team as a reply in this thread. Each month the theme and prompts for building will change so pay attention to those building requirements. The judges will be AC7, Zpanther, and Kollin7.

Rules for team submissions & voting:

1. Don't copy somebody else's team. Pretty straightforward here, we want this competition to be as diverse as possible, and copying a team someone else posted will result in a disqualification. Taking inspiration is absolutely fine, but we don't wanna see copies of teams. Also, remember to provide a PokePaste.
2. Remember to go into detail on the team, building process, sets, spreads, etc. Just PokePastes will be deleted.
3. Have fun!

Hall of Fame

September 2025 Winner - HeyYa!_Forte - Bulk Up Pass Medicham + Triple Trappers -Prompt: Medicham

October 2025 Winner - TBD - Paste - Prompt: Flygon, No Skarmory

 

[Joaf]

Teambuilding Competition - September 2025:

Each month will have a Pokemon selected to build around, or some restriction/requirement in the teambuilder selected by one of our judges to keep things fun. For the first month of building AC7 wanted to commemorate Medicham as the newest ADV OU Pokemon. Excited to see what people come up with!

Note: Since this started a week into the month, the submission and voting phases will be condensed into 2 weeks. Final round of judge ranking will be done on last week of the month as always still.

 

[Politoad With An A]

Double-Band Rain Balance

Cool song that I had in the background when building and stimulation for yall when reading this post <3

<- Press for the Pokepaste

The building process: I wanted to dip my toes into a metagame I haven’t really touched on before and decided this would be a fun way to get me into singles.I looked at something that would be similar to what I would find in doubles, so I decided on a very offensive team that hinges on removal of key threats to surprise your opponent with an unexpected pick that cleans everything up well. Since Medicham was a must I wanted something that thrives upon the removal of Tyranitar, Zapdos and Blissey - which brought me to Rain.

Set decisions and Mon choice explanations:

Medicham
I chose to put medicham in the lead slot because of the team’s aforementioned weakness to Tyranitar and Zapdos and the fact 2HKOing everything with Brick Break is just super fun. The set is pretty standard all things considered; but I decided on Baton Pass for my 4th move because it scouts the switch from Tyranitar and Suicune and keeps you momentum. In the worst case scenario, you have a free Blissey or Forretress entrance.

Blissey
From the beginning of building I already knew the team would need some longevity and ways to pivot around strong Ice Beams and Thunder Bolts, and Blissey is just the perfect wall and can easily make progress with Seismic Toss and Thunder Wave. I have Ice Beam over something like Heal Bell or Rain Dance so it can hit Gengar, which was a big issue in testing. Another pretty standard pick but would probably be better off as a Wish Blissey now that I think of it lol

Kingdra
The main mon and the primary sweeper of the team, Kingdra is an Offensive POWERHOUSE and does illegal amounts of damage with Surf + Spikes chip. Has a really positive Swampert matchup which the team really needs so far. Lum Berry lets it swap in for free on Moltres/Gengar Will-o-Wisps and hit back hard. Cool mon but Hidden Power Grass could probs be replaced with Electric for a better Gyarados Matchup.

Dugtrio
This mon is a lot sillier then the others purely because it only exists to spite late game Tyranitar and Suicune, if you lose the speed tie versus opposing Lead Medicham and get Shadow Balled into oblivion and/or to chip everything into Surf range. That’s pretty much it lol

Celebi
Another Water resist is super nice and provides team-wide recovery with Leech Seed. Also significantly improves your Toxic Swampert matchup and can snipe opposing Forretress with Hidden Power Fire. Recover on Celebi really gives the team a safety net for if Kingdra goes down early, so you can commit to playing out the rest of the game as stall in conjunction with Blissey and Forretress.

Forretress
Speaking of Forretress, it fills out the team excellently and is great role compression in the form of Spikes + Spin + Calm Mind Celebi check. Spikes is just an amazing move, we all know this. A single spike gives you so much momentum and can force you opponent into unfavourable situations super easily. It also has spectacular synergy with Surf from Kingdra as loads of mons just love taking 80% from surf and OHKOing in return, so for the first time ever; 2 layers of Spikes is worth going for (!) Explosion is also a really good option as it is another Offcune answer and can finish off the opposing Spinner so you have 2 layers for the rest of the game and there is nothing your opponent can do about it :3c

That’s my team, hope yall enjoyed the post. (Friendly reminder I barely know what im doing so lots of this post is just assumptions xP)

 

[OMNIWEEB]

Dual Fighters + Rain Spikeless/Trapless Hyper Offense​

https://pokepast.es/e021edc5738de41c (Rain Rain Go Reigning)

My Building Process:
As I'm known on the ADV OU ladder to have a "shtick" of running mostly the same signature team on main, I wanted to test out a different playstyle on an alt account on Showdown for laddering and reaching at least 1500 elo. I tend to enjoy overwhelming my opponents with hard reads and playin' mind games of sorts, so I've decided to make a team that does what I've intended to do on ladder. Medicham, at the time of making this team, was ranked UUBL previously, so I've decided to build a team around lead Medicham and put some sorts of contingency plans or as much possible backup plans in case of certain mons fainting at some point in a given battle on ladder.

​

The Details of My Alt Team​

Band Jolly Medicham (Lead Slot): I've decided to run this Medi set as lead since I love dealing massive damage (thanks to the combination of Huge Power and Choice Band) all the while of outspeeding certain mons that Adamant variants couldn't in comparison. I don't expect said Medi to usually be preserved in the early game, so the best I could do was basically have the mon go out swingin' and takin' down as much mons when alive. As the Medi faints, I have other mons to take its place and finish off what the aforementioned mon had left off. I like Focus Punch as my fourth move just 'cause it's quite satisfyin' to punish certain player habits of playin' too safe, even when taking Choice Band into account.

SubSalac Heracross: In case of Medicham fainting, I at the very least have Heracross as a secondary fighting-type mon in the back; it's one of my wincons and also the second banana to Medi. Finding opportunities in battles in regards to setting up Swords Dance and substitutes to activate the Salac Berry makes the reverse sweeping (or comeback) with Heracross to be satisfying, in spite of risking misses with Swarm-boosted Megahorn and Rock Slide. Do have to keep in mind that I would have to consider HP ranges, Spikes, and Sand chip when decidin' whether to make Hera my possible wincon, even as last mon in which no phazing moves can ruin much of my chances of making some comebacks.

Lum Kingdra: Weather changer that can potentially blast through a couple mons with Rain-boosted Surfs with such amplified speed in the rain. I ran Lum Berry on my Kingdra so it has a one-time safety net when it comes to especially paralysis as a likely hinderance to my plans for winning. I went with HP Grass mainly to hit Swampert super effectively and as much I'd like the idea of Rain-boosted Hydro Pumps, I don't wanna risk missing such overs and eventually run out of PP or have Kingdra faint. Also clearing out Sand is good enough for supporting the longevity of the Fighters, just so these mons don't simply faint in the switch-in at a critically low health. Just because I have Rain Dance doesn't mean I'll consider having Jolteon and Gengar to run Thunder; I'd rather have a consistent way of dealing damage than solely rely on weather to make my hardhitting moves with less accuracy in order to actually land in a sense. Have to keep in mind about Special Walls in order to make Kingdra be an alternative wincon.

Standard Jolteon: A mon that can speedtie Aerodactyl - and even outspeed base 120 speed mons - is a mon that is great at spreading chaos with Thunder-Wave and pivoting with DryPass. All the while of using such strong BoltBeam coverage, I've went with HP Ice as I've already had enough of mons that can deal with Ground/Rock/Water mons with Grass coverage; I'd rather have HP Ice Jolteon to have my team be more diversed in dealing mons like Salamence and Flygon than just stubbornly deal with Pert solely. It's awesome that Jolteon can simply Baton Pass first before stayin' trapped by Dugtrio; bein' a naturally fast mon does have its perks, but getting crippled by Paralysis tends to be very devastating in a sense. Spreadin' Paralysis is also fun and supports my other mons in outspeeding certain mons that tends to outspeed them.

Offensive Gengar: The ghostly trickster that has vast coverage options to hit as much mons in the competitive setting, even without STAB moves. The main idea of this Gengar is to simply hit as many super effective moves towards lead and back mons, before eventually BOOMING for whenever such time/opportunity comes into fruition. This ghastly menace is one of "pumpkin bombs" in regards to the team basically, in spite of lacking status-inflicting moves on my overall arsenal for the mon.

Utility Claydol: It's intended to clear out spikes and deny greedy plays regardin' opposing mons setting up to eventually sweep my HO team. Originally I had Rain Dance Defensive Starmie, as sixth mon, but that would have made the mon a huge liability of sorts in the long run as it would have been a huge vital point for my alt team. As much as Natural Cure is a cool ability n' all, I've decided to have a ground-type spinner that can remove Spikes from the field and also go BOOM on Mence/Gyara/etc. to prevent possible boosts; being immune to Sand, Spikes, Ground moves, Electric moves, and couple of Paralysis-inflicting moves (aside from a few) is also a bonus. This eye spinner is also the other "pumpkin bomb" as having two exploding mons tends to be a bit better than having just one.

Notable Replays (as "TimWee")​

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2301049972
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2301056787
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2309035003?p2

(My Jolteon fanart's related to my Medi Team submission btw)

 

[Sylveon HRT]

[U]Medicham x Registeel[/U]

https://pokepast.es/0080b38caa032460

My building process: I wanted to base this off of a previous team I built. That team also revolved around a fighter, mixmence, and defensive Celebi, except it had pace issues and leaned too far into a kind of team that isn't particularly viable. I decided to take a similar idea into a more spikeless balanced offensive direction, and decided Registeel would work really well with this idea, which is how I got the idea for this team.

Team Details

Salamence: I decided on mixed Salamence because it's an excellent progress maker that gives me access to a consistent lead, and gives me access to a lot of defensive options with Intimidate. Salamence also helps handle the Celebi matchup, which is important on this team.

Registeel: Registeel is a really great tank with an excellent moveset and role compression. It can check special threats, Snorlax, Metagross, and Aerodactyl. Thunder Wave is a formidable support option for our offensive threats, and allows it to be an offensive threat in its own right with access to Explosion and Seismic Toss. Registeel is also an excellent option for its ability to flip the script on physical attackers with Counter and keep taking hits to boot.

Medicham: The star of the show, Medicham is a second progress maker that can do damage to almost any Pokémon in the metagame. Medicham can immediately win big damage vs any team, and destroys Tyranitar and Blissey with ease. Medicham appreciates this team's access to multiple explosions and progress makers. Medicham is also an excellent user of paralysis support from Registeel, and an excellent partner to Suicune. I decided on a basic 4 attacks lum berry set for its ability to handle the Gengar matchup.

Suicune: I'd considered crocune, or Rest Ice Beam, or bold Roarcune, however I decided Substitute Surf Ice Beam was the best option for multiple reasons. Its ability to handle Blissey is valuable, and so is its ability to benefit so heavily from paralysis. It's also necessary that Suicune uses Ice Beam, so Roar wasn't really an option, and nor was crocune. SubCune is the perfect balance of sweeping and progress-making this team needs, while being able to match up well into Salamence.

Claydol: I think Claydol is important for its ability to handle this team's spikes weakness, while also being capable of hitting Gengar hard and handling greedy plays by using Explosion.

Celebi: I decided on defensive Celebi, as it can make progress with Leech Seed, while also freeing up the Roar slot on Suicune with Perish Song. Psychic just helps make the Gengar matchup better. Perish Song also helps with lastmon Suicune and Lax, which I think is fairly valuable.

 

[HeyYa!_Forte]

Bulk Up Pass Medicham + Triple Trappers

https://pokepast.es/aef2f2d61002a81f

Generally speaking I am a WAY better pilot than I am a team builder, but anyone who knows my history in the tier will know that I learned the game by exclusively using a (very bad) Medicham lead team that I made, featuring Magneton and Dugtrio. I definitely should not have learned the game with something so cheesy, and I have abandoned it as I have improved as a player. That being said, today I dared to ask: "What if there were THREE trappers?". This comp abuses typical counterplay to Medicham leads in order to achieve early traps and enable a Suicune or Rest Lax sweep for the late game. It is absolutely a matchup fish, but when it works well, it works VERY well, especially into things like Beer Lover, Classico, and other forms of TSS. I have been able to ladder to high 1600s using this paste, with wins on several very good players participating in the Ladder Tour, which has helped boost my faith that this team has some legs to stand on.

Medicham - In my original team, I had used Jolly CB Medi with Brick Break, Rock Slide, Shadow Ball/Focus Punch, and Baton Pass. This was fine, but swapping Rock Slide for Bulk Up really opens up opportunities to assist the rest of the team. Snorlax appreciates a head start on Curse boosts (similar to CM Passing to SuperRachi), Houndoom can live an explosion from Gengar, and most notably, Bold Suicune becomes borderline unkillable if you activate it late game. Into TTar lead, I typically just Brick Break, but Baton Pass is acceptable if you want a more cleanly executed trap on an incoming Skarmory, Celebi, or Gengar. It mostly just depends on how you think your opponent will respond. Most other leads will force Medicham to hard switch to either Snorlax or Suicune, but this generally draws out trap targets early anyway, which allows you to form your plan of attack. The one lead that is the exception to this is Metagross, which I recommend hard pivoting to Magneton instead of Suicune. Even if they EQ on the predicted Magneton switch, Adamant Dugtrio is favored to revenge KO. Removing Metagross early is so important for both Suicune and Snorlax that it is worth potentially sacrificing Magneton early. Shadow Ball and Focus Punch both have their merits, but I tend to lean towards Shadow Ball to allow Medicham to duel Claydol and serve as a backup way to hit Gengar if something should happen to Houndoom. Recover could also be considered for added longevity into some Pokemon, but finding turns for it is difficult, and I typically find myself more often wishing I had Ghost coverage instead.

Dugtrio - I find that Dugtrio is the most expendable trapper out of the three, but it allows for Magneton and Houndoom to operate at an increased consistency. As stated above, Metagross is a very high value target. If Magneton switches in on Metagross and is able to determine that the set is not CB, usually there is some hesitation in sacrificing Magneton for one Tbolt into Metagross, but the Dugtrio follow up makes this a 1 to 1 trade. This Dugtrio is EV'd to switch in on most Celebi builds, OHKO ing many common sets, and living hits from more passive builds. If HP Bug does not OHKO Celebi, then Houndoom is safely able to revenge KO with Pursuit due to the implied lack of speed on bulkier Celebi builds. Adamant Dugtrio is heavily favored to whittle down Blissey while only using Earthquake, and still lives one Ice Beam from Modest sets.

Magneton - Magneton is Magneton. Nothing crazy new going on here. Rain Dance or Sunny Day both work as weather clear options, but I find that Rain Dance often pairs better in late game scenarios. I am frequently going back and forth on whether Toxic or TWave is a better option, but Toxic allowing Magneton to hit Swampert on its way out is very strong, so I lean Toxic generally.

Houndoom - Houndoom is here purely to remove Gengar and Sandstorm. Black Glasses Pursuit ensures a 2HKO on sets that stay in, and is very heavily favored to OHKO bulky sets switching out. It frequently finds very safe early entry points, as for many teams, Wisp Gengar is their best Medicham check. Sunny Beam has the added benefit of obliterating common switch ins like Swampert and Milotic, but on top of that if you set sun on a turn that Tyranitar switches in, you are able to Solar Beam as you sacrifice Houndoom for a confirmed revenge KO from Dugtrio. There are several instances where Houndoom + Dugtrio will be able to remove a threat that they could not on their own, which is very nice synergy. I attempted using this team with Black Glasses Rain Dance Tyranitar, but it only added another gimmick to an already pretty gimmicky team, and was generally worse at removing Gengar anyway, so only attempt that set at your own risk.

Suicune - Suicune operates as a very important defensive and offensive piece for this team. You may notice that there is no "real" rock resist to be found here. Typically this is because you are assuming that Tyranitar gets trapped early, but if it doesn't then Bold Suicune is your best answer. It works surprisingly well, and served a similar defensive role on the original double trapper team I used to use, but used Roar over Ice Beam. This is unfortunately not as safe in this comp, as Salamence is horrible for this team, and forces Suicune to run Ice Beam to act as a blanket counter to it. Suicune is a major reason why I decided to run Bulk Up Pass Medicham, as Bold Suicune at +1 Defense is nearly unkillable for any physical attacker and can just run away with games if Zapdos isn't there to stop it. This is easier to set up than you would think, and is a major point against revealing both Bulk Up and Baton Pass too early. The surprise factor is very very strong, and I am honestly surprised I have not seen more teams built around passing defense boosts to Suicune in the past.

Snorlax - Snorlax runs mono Body Slam, with Curse, Rest, and Sleep Talk. Once Metagross, Gengar, Skarmory, Celebi, Tyranitar, and sand are removed, it is incredibly difficult to meaningfully punish such a greedy set. This is obviously not the first team to attempt to enable MonoLax, but it is the first one I have seen that goes all in on it as hard as this. Even if you are only partially successful in your traps, this set is ignorant enough to blow through most of these in the endgame anyway. Snorlax pairs very well with Bulk Up Pass as well, as it will outspeed other Curse lax sets upon being passed in, and getting a head start on boosts will allow for it to hit much harder immediately.

Overall, I think this team is a great example of how to generate momentum with Medicham in several ways. It sacrifices some power for utility and the ability to enable other members of the team in a way that a simple CB set cannot.


--------------------

UPDATE: This is the team that pushed me from 1680 to 1780 for ladder tour in 30 minutes. It's actually got the juice

 

[Celdanami]

Medicham Weather Clear + Zapdug 4 Dummies

Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/66116f083446fbba
​

I wanted to make something simple, where Medicham is the undeniable star of the team.

Check this shit out:

Step 1: Kill Tar
Step 2: Weather Clear
Step 3: Bonkin' Tiem

• Zapdos is 328 HP Ice to better manage Salamence, whose band and mixed sets can cause problems otherwise.
• Metagross is EV'd to live +1 Tar, Gyara, Mence + their band sets, and dugtrio.
• Kingdra can live a Dragon Claw after a spike.
• Celebi outspeeds Jolly Medicham

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2439520486-ftyq24hn1b83f32b7qwet9b8wlsfvmkpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2439517387

 

[Tomotaco69]

Triple Band Offense

I pretty much just tinkered in the builder until I just made something I’m confident in, so the team is super straight forward.

Note: My descriptions may not give them enough spotlight, and credit due to the fact I’m running on maybe 5 hours of sleep if I’m generous.

https://pokepast.es/39fb61fb36964284

Metagross
Boom lead is honestly huge for offense, and with how Metagross is the most threatening lead, they naturally find their place here.

Otherwise, just Banded Meta doing Banded Meta stuff.

(Celd might like this because they’ve advertised Metagross a lot to me, and also because Meta lead has been putting in consistent work)


Aerodactyl
Second Band mon. Mostly here to help speed control, and just because they naturally pair well with Medi, and Meta who work together to roll over everything that walls them. And ofc, since it’s an offense team, they fit right in with the other mons who sorta fixate on offensive output; coming into broken teams, and hitting them harder than my sleep deprivation hits me.


Medicham
The Star Mon for the team. A breaker worthy of their recent rise to OU who basically does the Medicham thing where they come in on vulnerable mons, and simply whoop their ass.

I found them an especially helpful partner for Suicune because they take care of Snorlax, and Blissey, which they appreciate for their late game cleaning.


Tyranitar
This one is the simple Fast Dragon Dance set. I just like using them because:

1. Sand makes the damage stick
2. Just a fun sweeper in general

They’re mostly here for sand setting, but ofc, they put in work because they’re Tyranitar.

I have a hating ass thing with the mid ladder camper (Raikou), so I started bringing this Tyranitar set to actively hate on them.

Being able to punish Adamant Dugtrio sets is also nice.

Though I still have to get used to their pre-setup damage.
(I’ve been a CBT/ Choice Band Tyranitar main, so I am yearning whenever I can’t just unga bunga big damage off the bat)


Zapdos
Idk why, but adding Zapdos to my teams seems to solve a lot of problems for me.

Mostly ones involving Swampert, but other stuff as well. Like they make the team feel like less of a pain to use.

And I personally prefer running Toxic to pair with the sand for extra chip on stuff like Blissey.

Also Baton Pass pivoting is nice asw, always appreciated.

Oh, and they help me bully Milotic.


(Note: Heavy glaze ahead/all true cuz I said so)

Suicune (My Glorious King/real OU top1)
The second setup sweeper on my team, and ofc my beautiful, powerful, dignified, lovely, awe-inspiring, GOAT’ed, top tier, badass, highly-regarded, amazing, superb, excellent, generous, glorious king.

Usually after the Band mons broke through the opponent’s team composition, they can come in, and set up a single Calm Mind, and sometimes just win games off there.

very nice that they have the bulk to reliably come in on stuff like Metagross’ Meteor Mash, Rock Slides, etc at least once (though keeping them healthy til later parts of the game is always recommended, if possible).

They’re also a reliable phaser who can live hits, and Roar out whatever is setting up because they’re just built different, and the opponent’s attacks doesn’t stop their active mewing streak.

They’re just SO PEAK.

Give me Band
Give me the one I admire
Give me Suicune agenda, or I retire

Note: I’m gonna be honest, I actually also made this team because I needed an excuse to glaze my GOAT.

 

[Dark Catman]

Ludicolo + Endure Reversal Medicham

​

https://pokepast.es/ed23bad94a35f358

This team's main goal is to set up for a reversal medi sweep by eliminating or chipping down important pokemon and weather clearing with Ludi. However, it's not completely banking on it and can still win without a medi sweep.

Zapdos

​

Rest zap is my favorite lead in adv ou. It wins most lead matchups, can pretty much wall every special attacking mon in the game, toxic is broken and I really like having 2 roar users in case I verse mag or calm minders and it's also great for spikes chip.

I like having a more aggressive special wall than bliss because this team doesn't have that much longevity and isn't passive, also zap being spike immuned is great since this team doesn't have a spinner.

Weather clear synergises well with rest zap as it allows it chip heal with lefties and rest loop against things like bliss, offensive gengar and offensive swampert.

Skarmory

Skarm is this team's line of defense against physical threats.

Spikes are very important for dugtrio and medicham to be able to one shot mons like tyranocif, metagross, swampert and celebi and they're also just the best way to make progress in adv. You're gonna want to set them early in the game.

You could also run taunt instead of toxic to deal with other skarms and forre better since this team doesn't have a spinner.

Ludicolo

Ludi is my favorite rain mon. Its typing may not be as good as kingdra's but i think having leech seed is so valuable against the usual switch-ins like bliss or suicune. Leech seed also allows ludi to heal back spike damage that was dealt when switching onto the field which is great.

I use surf over hydro pump because I dont like missing and this set has just enough speed to outrun everything in rain and the rest is invested in hp and special attack of course

Ludi's main purpose is to weather clear for medi but it's also great against pretty much every water type and can do much more than simply clicking rain dance.

Medicham

You know it, you love it, it's the featured mon and so it had to be the win con in this team.

The great thing with endure is that it kinda gives medi a second life. You can switch it in against weaker moves to apply pressure during the game and then at the end once sand is gone you click endure, get the salac boost and take everything out of existence with reversal, shadow ball, rock slide and the greatest attack stat in the game.

Now i know endure+reversal is kinda gimmicky but it works really well if your opponent isn't expecting it and just the threat of it can sometimes be enough to get kills with your other moves. I've definitely robbed my fair share of games with it.

I use jolly nature because I value being faster than aero, jolt and agil meta with the salac boost over dealing more damage.

Dugtrio

Dugtrio is so good at eliminating threats for this team. It takes out tar to get rid of sand, celebi which is one of the best mons at tanking medi's attacks and is also just very annoying, breloom which can run mach punch to kill medi, it can kill mag before it can trap your skarm and a bunch of other mons like starm, bliss, etc.

Jolly nature is very important for dd tar

Dug, zap and ludi are great at tricking your opponent into thinking you're playing a special offense team with a ludi wincon and then win with a surprise endure with medi.

Gengar

Gengar is the best spinblocker in the tier. I use defensive gengar in this team for dd salamence and because living pursuit into dug trap is a great combo against tar and houndoom. It can then trade with a whole other pokemon with destiny bond with the little health it has left. Destiny bond is also great at taking out claydoll to keep your spikes and allow medi to sweep more easily.

Even tho it's innacurate, I think wisp is still really good and definitely worth using as ice punch and thunderbolt provide enough coverage. giga drain isn't worth using cuz I already have ludi for swampert and ice punch is really important for dd mence.

Gengar can pretty much always get at least one kill per game and can even clean up at the end sometimes.

I hope you guys like it!

 

[EarthTraveler413]

Medicham + Camel CM Spam

https://pokepast.es/be9c6bdc11ff9f47​

I'd been thinking about building CM Spam for a bit, and I noticed on ladder that a good chunk of CM Spam teams seemed to run a lead Fighting type, so I decided this was a good chance to try that out.

If you're going to lead with a Fighting-type, and you're building a team with Medicham... you're gonna lead Medicham. Band Medicham in this case, because hitting mons for a truckload of damage is really fun. I ran Adamant, just to do even more damage. Focus Punch is there because it doesn't really need any extra coverage, and because you can occasionally pass it an intact sub, leading to some shenanigans.

One of the two CM spammers. Ran the defensive spread as a way to better deal with physical attackers due to the overall lack of bulk on the team. Ice Beam > Roar to deal with all Salamence variants more effectively.

The other CM spammer. I went with a stallbreaker set to make it easier to deal with, well, stall teams, and especially Blissey. 101 HP subs, enough speed to outrun Tyranitar, and maxing out SpA after that. Boltbeam coverage to avoid getting bricked by anything.

Kills Waters and outspeeds and kills most Mence. Also passes subs which can be handy to give teammates safe entry or let them set up (or let them fire off consequence-free Focus Punches lol)

Kinda oddball set but it works. HP Grass messes up Pert, Fire Punch provides good coverage, burn stuff with Will-o-Wisp, Explode to crack special walls.

Compresses countering Electrics, Gengar, and Celebi, while providing a secondary Fire answer. Last slot is probably changeable, I went with Roar to provide utility. It does phaze Zaps, Jolts, and Celebi that sub up on the switch or a Toxic.

Hope you like it!

 

[Celdanami]

This happening?

 

[Joaf]

Our judges are going to begin their review and ratings of the teams submitted this month. BIG THANKS to everyone that participated for this first trial month!! Excited to see our winner!

 

[Just_Leonardo]

This happening?

Joaf is slow, you must understand

 

[Zpanther]

Teambuilding Competition : Medicham

Without further ado heres my review and ratings for the teams submitted :)

Team 1: Double band Rain by Politoad with an A


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 5 ; 6 grounded is always tough in a meta dominated by spikes. There is spin but no reliable way to get it off without suit support and i dont think medi can reliably lure gar enough to make that work. Dug + Kingdra does have some synergy.

Competitive Viability: 3 ; Way too weak to Gengar, past the point i think its acceptable to cheat on it. Blissey can offer temporary reprieve but theres no way of reliably dealing with it. This weakness is compounded by using forre here and bi without psy as well as two cb mons which most common clicks is a fight move and eq respectively.

Creativity and Originality: 9 ; definitely a very creative team fitting kingdra medi and forre all on one squad is very unique.

Clarity of Explanation: 7 ; explanation on the teams pokemon and move choices is coherent however i think they could have gone more in depth on certain choices and how they deal with their tough matchups.

Adaptability and Flexibility: 4 ; This team does seem like it would do well into gar-less, tar lead spikes teams. Medi applies alot of immediate pressure in those matchups however i think theres some fundamental issues with the team especially the lack of a real rock resist and the gar issue. Those are among the most common teams in the meta so i think a 4 is fair here.

Total: 28


Team 2: Rain Rain Go Reigning by Omniweeb


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 5 ; It has the shell of a decent mix off team but theres some unusual combinations here like dra and jolt + dol and gar that may cause some inconsistencies.

Competitive Viability: 5 ; has enough of a core i think it can win games however the choices of gar and dra without dug isnt gonna be very reliable into common stuff. And nothing on this team really likes to come into status.

Creativity and Originality: 7 ; its somewhat of a mix between specoff and mix off nothing too crazy but pretty unique in its own right.

Clarity of Explanation: 8 ; went into great detail on choices tho i think the reasoning isnt perfect still explained well.

Adaptability and Flexibility: 4 ; Mix off already struggles with inconsistency in adv and i think this one is no different. this team REALLY needs a dug somewhere.

Total : 29


Team 3: Registeel X Medicham by Sylveon HRT


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 7 ; its a little soft into things like Cm Pixies and DD tar but it has ways to get around those matchups. I think the team would improve alot by having a more offensive celebi set here.

Competitive Viability: 7 ; This looks like it can definitely win games but seems like it would struggle vs like opposing mix mence and zap with spikes long term however. its stretched very thin defensively and relies on a committee approach to dealing with most threats which can cause them to be overloaded.

Creativity and Originality: 5 ; theres some unusual sets for this style team but overall very similar to common mix offs you'll see.

Clarity of Explanation: 5 ; didn't go too in depth but covered their basic points.

Adaptability and Flexibility: 6 ; This is very much a team thats looking to beat down tss types outside of those matchups it may struggle and may lack the firepower needed to keep up with some offenses.

Total: 30


Team 4: Medi Bulk Up Pass + Triple Trappers by HeyYa!_Forte


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 8 ; mons picks make sense for the gameplan. All in on cune and lax does have some issues especially here where u cant spin.i think a lum medi to lure gar or just dol over doom angle is prob more consistent.

Competitive Viability: 7 ; For sure can win games, very classic style of team despite the more niche picks like medi and doom here. Solarbeam on doom seems very unnecessary and unreliable but considering its just filler and the main idea is just to weather clear its not that pressing. Lack of real rock resist here is also a major issue especially vs aero.

Creativity and Originality: 5 ; these style of teams have existed in adv forever so not really something thats fresh or unique but 1 bonus point for houndoom :)

Clarity of Explanation: 7 ; well explained tho i dont agree with all the sets choices here.

Adaptability and Flexibility: 4 ; pretty inflexible by nature of the team style tho i dont think this is a knock on the build itself, i cant really rate it high on the flexibility scale

Total: 31



Team 5: Weather Clear Medi Zap Dug by Celdanami


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 9 ; gameplan is very straight forward and mons help towards the same goal here. Tho i think some different sets would be better here to help facilitate the weather clear plan.

Competitive Viability: 7 ; these teams are very akin to specoff but aren't as reliable however they also dont live and die by dug not getting crit/frozen so theres some cool tradeoffs.

Creativity and Originality: 3 ; pretty basic as far weather clear goes all of them are very similar to this team ie medi/hera weather setter dug and zap.nothing too crazy but function > creativity anyways

Clarity of Explanation: 1 ; doesn't really go into any detail on mon or set choices

Adaptability and Flexibility: 4 ; pretty inflexible like the all in on lax by forte here youre all in on weather clearing. It can make it very tough in matchups where your opponent doesn't play into ur gameplan orr keeps key defensive mons healthy.

Total: 24


Team 6: ADV OU Triple Band by Tamotaco69


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 6 ; 3 Cbers akin to the Mdragon team is a cool concept ive been liking personally and i think medi fits great on that kinda style however i think suicune feels really out of place id prob put a swapert there likely end pert.

Competitive Viability: 5 ; 3 Cb users will always require some gaming and proactive play i think a team like this by nature is inconsistent and needs to pull a great matchup. Will struggle to break some stuff and i think its pretty dire into offensive waters particularly starmie. But its got some merit.

Creativity and Originality: 6 ; not a team style that is used very often and medi seems like a seamless fit on the style. Its not groundbreaking tho and i think the cune spot in particular leaves a lot to be desired.

Clarity of Explanation:7 ; coherent explanation does not go into too much depth but bonus point for it being funny

Adaptability and Flexibility: 4 ; pretty inflexible by nature of 3 mons that get choice locked and no really special switch in

Total: 28


Team 7: Ludicolo + Reversal Medicham by Dark Catman


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 3 ; kinda mix between two styles i think this will hurt it in the consistency department especially with no real rock check. Fighters notoriously dont benefit much from spikes and the skarm slot could just be a metagross.

Competitive Viability: 5 ; it has enough good mons to be usable but without key fundamentals such as a real rock check or special check this is gonna struggle into alot especially with skarm letting in alot of those strong special threats i dont think the teammates can make up for it.

Creativity and Originality: 5 ; unique in that its a mesh of two styles that dont often get mixed but in reference to both it has the same basic cores youd expect from spikes team (skarm gar) and specoff team (Zap dug) even if the sets arent traditional to those styles.

Clarity of Explanation: 8 ; clean nice explanation tho i think reasoning can be a little more fleshed out.

Adaptability and Flexibility: 6 ; while it may struggle in the consistency department it doesnt seem to have any absolutely cant find a way to win matchups albeit vs rocks it will have to play it almost perfectly and position ludi well.

Total: 27


Team 8: Medicham + Camel Cm Spam by EarthTraveler413


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 6 ; has the blueprint of a solid mix off team but certain slots particularly gar and rachi could be better imo. I think gar being replaced by meta would make this team alot better because u can pressure blissy alot more easily. Camel is a novel but great choice here as we've seen from these submissions medi isnt necessarily easy to fit alongside a special check like blissey. And camel helps keep your momentum here.

Competitive Viability: 5 ; gar and the nature of both set up mons being slow to ramp up can create a pace mismatch that hampers its viability.

Creativity and Originality: 8 i really like the use of camel here alongside medi i think they both fit well together on pivot heavy fast paced teams. The gengar is kinda ball and chain here imo if it was just a more threatening physical threat/rock resist with boom (particularly meta or dol even) i think this team would be alot more solid.

Clarity of Explanation:3 ; short and too the point doesn't go into much detail

Adaptability and Flexibility: 5 ; as far as the team structure style goes with medi, camel, zap, cune, etc i think theres actually alot of flexibility in the teammates that could be used and the different matchups that would effect however this one in particular due to no real rock resist has a much worse match up spread.

Total: 27



I tried to be as objective as i could with this. Please dont be upset with me if you think my opinion was harsh. this is in good faith for constructive criticism purposes and i really appreciate all of you that submitted a team and hope you all continue to build in ADV!

- Zpanther

 

[Celdanami]

Teambuilding Competition : Medicham

Without further ado heres my review and ratings for the teams submitted :)

Team 1: Double band Rain by Politoad with an A


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 5 ; 6 grounded is always tough in a meta dominated by spikes. There is spin but no reliable way to get it off without suit support and i dont think medi can reliably lure gar enough to make that work. Dug + Kingdra does have some synergy.

Competitive Viability: 3 ; Way too weak to Gengar, past the point i think its acceptable to cheat on it. Blissey can offer temporary reprieve but theres no way of reliably dealing with it. This weakness is compounded by using forre here and bi without psy as well as two cb mons which most common clicks is a fight move and eq respectively.

Creativity and Originality: 9 ; definitely a very creative team fitting kingdra medi and forre all on one squad is very unique.

Clarity of Explanation: 7 ; explanation on the teams pokemon and move choices is coherent however i think they could have gone more in depth on certain choices and how they deal with their tough matchups.

Adaptability and Flexibility: 4 ; This team does seem like it would do well into gar-less, tar lead spikes teams. Medi applies alot of immediate pressure in those matchups however i think theres some fundamental issues with the team especially the lack of a real rock resist and the gar issue. Those are among the most common teams in the meta so i think a 4 is fair here.

Total: 28


Team 2: Rain Rain Go Reigning by Omniweeb


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 5 ; It has the shell of a decent mix off team but theres some unusual combinations here like dra and jolt + dol and gar that may cause some inconsistencies.

Competitive Viability: 5 ; has enough of a core i think it can win games however the choices of gar and dra without dug isnt gonna be very reliable into common stuff. And nothing on this team really likes to come into status.

Creativity and Originality: 7 ; its somewhat of a mix between specoff and mix off nothing too crazy but pretty unique in its own right.

Clarity of Explanation: 8 ; went into great detail on choices tho i think the reasoning isnt perfect still explained well.

Adaptability and Flexibility: 4 ; Mix off already struggles with inconsistency in adv and i think this one is no different. this team REALLY needs a dug somewhere.

Total : 29


Team 3: Registeel X Medicham by Sylveon HRT


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 7 ; its a little soft into things like Cm Pixies and DD tar but it has ways to get around those matchups. I think the team would improve alot by having a more offensive celebi set here.

Competitive Viability: 7 ; This looks like it can definitely win games but seems like it would struggle vs like opposing mix mence and zap with spikes long term however. its stretched very thin defensively and relies on a committee approach to dealing with most threats which can cause them to be overloaded.

Creativity and Originality: 5 ; theres some unusual sets for this style team but overall very similar to common mix offs you'll see.

Clarity of Explanation: 5 ; didn't go too in depth but covered their basic points.

Adaptability and Flexibility: 6 ; This is very much a team thats looking to beat down tss types outside of those matchups it may struggle and may lack the firepower needed to keep up with some offenses.

Total: 30


Team 4: Medi Bulk Up Pass + Triple Trappers by HeyYa!_Forte


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 8 ; mons picks make sense for the gameplan. All in on cune and lax does have some issues especially here where u cant spin.i think a lum medi to lure gar or just dol over doom angle is prob more consistent.

Competitive Viability: 7 ; For sure can win games, very classic style of team despite the more niche picks like medi and doom here. Solarbeam on doom seems very unnecessary and unreliable but considering its just filler and the main idea is just to weather clear its not that pressing. Lack of real rock resist here is also a major issue especially vs aero.

Creativity and Originality: 5 ; these style of teams have existed in adv forever so not really something thats fresh or unique but 1 bonus point for houndoom :)

Clarity of Explanation: 7 ; well explained tho i dont agree with all the sets choices here.

Adaptability and Flexibility: 4 ; pretty inflexible by nature of the team style tho i dont think this is a knock on the build itself, i cant really rate it high on the flexibility scale

Total: 31



Team 5: Weather Clear Medi Zap Dug by Celdanami


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 9 ; gameplan is very straight forward and mons help towards the same goal here. Tho i think some different sets would be better here to help facilitate the weather clear plan.

Competitive Viability: 7 ; these teams are very akin to specoff but aren't as reliable however they also dont live and die by dug not getting crit/frozen so theres some cool tradeoffs.

Creativity and Originality: 3 ; pretty basic as far weather clear goes all of them are very similar to this team ie medi/hera weather setter dug and zap.nothing too crazy but function > creativity anyways

Clarity of Explanation: 1 ; doesn't really go into any detail on mon or set choices

Adaptability and Flexibility: 4 ; pretty inflexible like the all in on lax by forte here youre all in on weather clearing. It can make it very tough in matchups where your opponent doesn't play into ur gameplan orr keeps key defensive mons healthy.

Total: 24


Team 6: ADV OU Triple Band by Tamotaco69


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 6 ; 3 Cbers akin to the Mdragon team is a cool concept ive been liking personally and i think medi fits great on that kinda style however i think suicune feels really out of place id prob put a swapert there likely end pert.

Competitive Viability: 5 ; 3 Cb users will always require some gaming and proactive play i think a team like this by nature is inconsistent and needs to pull a great matchup. Will struggle to break some stuff and i think its pretty dire into offensive waters particularly starmie. But its got some merit.

Creativity and Originality: 6 ; not a team style that is used very often and medi seems like a seamless fit on the style. Its not groundbreaking tho and i think the cune spot in particular leaves a lot to be desired.

Clarity of Explanation:7 ; coherent explanation does not go into too much depth but bonus point for it being funny

Adaptability and Flexibility: 4 ; pretty inflexible by nature of 3 mons that get choice locked and no really special switch in

Total: 28


Team 7: Ludicolo + Reversal Medicham by Dark Catman


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 3 ; kinda mix between two styles i think this will hurt it in the consistency department especially with no real rock check. Fighters notoriously dont benefit much from spikes and the skarm slot could just be a metagross.

Competitive Viability: 5 ; it has enough good mons to be usable but without key fundamentals such as a real rock check or special check this is gonna struggle into alot especially with skarm letting in alot of those strong special threats i dont think the teammates can make up for it.

Creativity and Originality: 5 ; unique in that its a mesh of two styles that dont often get mixed but in reference to both it has the same basic cores youd expect from spikes team (skarm gar) and specoff team (Zap dug) even if the sets arent traditional to those styles.

Clarity of Explanation: 8 ; clean nice explanation tho i think reasoning can be a little more fleshed out.

Adaptability and Flexibility: 6 ; while it may struggle in the consistency department it doesnt seem to have any absolutely cant find a way to win matchups albeit vs rocks it will have to play it almost perfectly and position ludi well.

Total: 27


Team 8: Medicham + Camel Cm Spam by EarthTraveler413


Team Synergy and Cohesion: 6 ; has the blueprint of a solid mix off team but certain slots particularly gar and rachi could be better imo. I think gar being replaced by meta would make this team alot better because u can pressure blissy alot more easily. Camel is a novel but great choice here as we've seen from these submissions medi isnt necessarily easy to fit alongside a special check like blissey. And camel helps keep your momentum here.

Competitive Viability: 5 ; gar and the nature of both set up mons being slow to ramp up can create a pace mismatch that hampers its viability.

Creativity and Originality: 8 i really like the use of camel here alongside medi i think they both fit well together on pivot heavy fast paced teams. The gengar is kinda ball and chain here imo if it was just a more threatening physical threat/rock resist with boom (particularly meta or dol even) i think this team would be alot more solid.

Clarity of Explanation:3 ; short and too the point doesn't go into much detail

Adaptability and Flexibility: 5 ; as far as the team structure style goes with medi, camel, zap, cune, etc i think theres actually alot of flexibility in the teammates that could be used and the different matchups that would effect however this one in particular due to no real rock resist has a much worse match up spread.

Total: 27



I tried to be as objective as i could with this. Please dont be upset with me if you think my opinion was harsh. this is in good faith for constructive criticism purposes and i really appreciate all of you that submitted a team and hope you all continue to build in ADV!

- Zpanther

Last place with the highest competitive viability and team synergy scores xD

 

[Kollin7]

Hide

Double Band Cham Rain (https://pokepast.es/80112bce2aa0cb7d)
by Politoad with an A


Team Synergy & Cohesion: 2
Competitive Viabilitiy: 2
Creativity & Originality: 4
Clarity of Explanation: 3
Adaptability & Flexibility: 2

Total: 13/50

Rain Rain Go Reigning (https://pokepast.es/e021edc5738de41c)
by OMNIWEEB

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 3
Competitive Viability: 3
Creativity & Originality: 5
Clarity of Explanation: 4.5
Adaptability & Flexibility: 4

Total: 19.5/50

Registeel x Medicham (https://pokepast.es/0080b38caa032460)
by Sylveon HRT

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 5.5
Competitive Viability: 5
Creativity & Originality: 4.5
Clarity of Explanation: 4
Adaptability & Flexibility: 5.5

Total: 24.5/50

Medi Bulk UP Pass + Triple Trappers (https://pokepast.es/aef2f2d61002a81f)
by HeyYa!_Forte

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 8.5
Competitive Viability: 7.5
Creativity & Originality: 6.5
Clarity of Explanation: 6.5
Adaptability & Flexibility: 4.5

Total: 33.5/50

Weather Clear Medi Zapdug (https://pokepast.es/66116f083446fbba)
by Celdanami

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 6
Competitive Viability: 5
Creativity & Originality: 4
Clarity of Explanation: 1.5
Adaptability & Flexibility: 4

Total: 20.5/50

ADV OU Triple Band (https://pokepast.es/39fb61fb36964284)
by Tomotaco69

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 3.5
Competitive Viability: 3
Creativity & Originality: 5.5
Clarity of Explanation: 3.5
Adaptability & Flexibility: 3

Total: 18.5/50

Ludicolo + Reversal Medicham (https://pokepast.es/ed23bad94a35f358)
by Dark Catman

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 2
Competitive Viability: 2
Creativity & Originality: 4
Clarity of Explanation: 3
Adaptability & Flexibility: 2

Total: 13/50

Medicham + Camel CM Spam (https://pokepast.es/be9c6bdc11ff9f47)
by EarthTraveler413

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 1.5
Competitive Viability: 2.5
Creativity & Originality: 4.5
Clarity of Explanation: 2
Adaptability & Flexibility: 4.5

Total: 15/50

 

[AC7]

Detailed Review

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CzLfPSy-UAznAaBfv_pJX8jm6w4z-TwK8hchwJEu9lQ/edit?usp=sharing

Read the above document for my thoughts on each team. Quite long, so I'll TLDR and post my scores below.
Just as Zpanther said, don't take the criticism too seriously, I'm very happy we're doing this competition for people to practice their building and I like seeing a good turnout so far.
Apologies since Medicham isn't the easiest to build with, JoaF put me on the spot while I was at work.

Politoad with an A

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 5
Competitive Viability: 3
Creativity & Originality: 5
Clarity of Explanation: 2
Adaptability & Flexibility: 3

Total: 20/50

Omniweeb

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

Total: 21/50

Sylveon HRT

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 6
Competitive Viability: 6
Creativity & Originality: 7
Clarity of Explanation: 4
Adaptability & Flexibility: 4

Total: 27/50

HeyYa!_Forte

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 9
Competitive Viability: 8
Creativity & Originality: 6
Clarity of Explanation: 7
Adaptability & Flexibility: 4

Total: 34/50

Celdanami

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 8
Competitive Viability: 6
Creativity & Originality: 5
Clarity of Explanation: 2
Adaptability & Flexibility: 4

Total: 25/50

Tomotaco69

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

Total: 22/50

Dark Catman

Team Synergy & Cohesion: 5
Competitive Viability: 5
Creativity & Originality: 4
Clarity of Explanation: 6
Adaptability & Flexibility: 3

Total: 23/50

EarthTraveler413

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

Total: 23/50

 

[Joaf]

Thanks to you all that submitted teams for our first ADV Team building competition featuring Medicham! And thanks to our judges that took the time to review and test out each of these teams. Without further delay, let me present the finalized ratings of each participant's team!

September Teambuilding Results:
1st: HeyYa!_Forte - 32.83/50
2nd: Sylveon HRT - 27.17/50
3rd: Celdanami & OMNIWEEB are tied for 3rd - 23.17/50.
5th: Tomotaco69 - 22.83/50
6th: EarthTraveler413 - 21.67/50
7th: Dark Catman - 21/50
8th: Politoad With An A - 20.33/50

Congrats to HeyYa!_Forte for being our winner for the month of September!!! And again, thanks to all who took the time to submit. I know some may not be happy with their scores, especially when the metrics weren't confirmed at start of the competition. We are still fine-tuning this to be a fun way for people to show off their teams, and for newer players to grow and learn.

Please stay tuned for Kollin7 prompt for October's ADV OU Teambuilding Competition! Once you see their prompt, feel free to start building to submit your teams right away!

 

[Kollin7]

Teambuilding Competition - October 2025:

This time the prompt will be Flygon, but with Skarmory disallowed. Hoping this will inspire some new and innovative builds!

Remember to outline your teambuilding process in your submission. This not only helps clarify the thoughts and ideas behind your team for the judges, but is an active part of how we as judges are scoring. Have fun!

Please enjoy my amazing work in Paint, which outlines the concept

 

[Johnald]

Forre Offgon Zard - By Johnald

https://pokepast.es/558007e4ed74293c

I wanted to build a spikes balance with Flygon.

Here is a quick list of Flygon trait's that I was thinking about during building:

• The only ground immune rock resist with neutrality to bug makes it good at switching into DD tar
  • Physical focus punch variants need to be handled by another mon
  • Special tar needs to be handled by another mon asw
• Unlike Swampert, Flygon does not resists steel
  • Metagross needs to be handled by another mon
• Needs help pressuring skarmory
  • Fire coverage can be used but is unreliable to hit multiple fire blasts on Skarm. Flamethrower too weak without investment.
  • Knock off / Thief?
  • Forretress?
• Flygon is a Gengar entry point
  • The team will need a good Gengar pivot or pursuit support
• Flygon's spike immunity decreased the necessity of needing rapid spin
  • Rapid spin can be dropped altogether or thought of as a bonus

The Forre + Suit Tar package seemed to cover alot of flygon's weaknesses.

can be doubled in on Skarmory entries. Setting up layers or spin 50/50s with suittar.
traps Gengar for both flygon and forre. Sets up the sand for flygon's damage to stick.

Next I wanted to look at bulky water options, something that can reliably pivot into focus punch tar and fire moves threatening Forre. was the obvious choice:

• Recover loops BKC tar, while flygon handles the Dragon dance sets
• Maybe the best response to fire type attackers in the tier?
• Solid mixed attacker sponge
• Handles most swampert sets
• Can answer metagross in a pinch, but shouldnt due to other defensive obligations

The team at this point was
Potential weaknesses that stood out:

• CM Celebi pressure was lacking
• Aerodactyl looks threatening if I chose to run offensive flygon
• Can struggle to pivot into special attacks
• I need a fast revenge killer that can answer dugtrio, metagross, and cm jirachi

A cool solution I found to these was the combination of Registeel+Charizard

Why was considered:

• Offensively checks celebi, metagross, dugtrio etc
• Can pivot into metagross once
• Can pivot in on a skarmory setting up layers or using protect
• Unlike moltres can threaten blissey without layers being established

Why was considered:

• Great special pivot
• Struggles vs fires but we have a milotic
• Struggles vs gengar but we have suittar
• Unlike blissey allows Charizard to run beat up
• Good Aero insurance since I'm choosing to run offensive flygon

Filling out the sets:

• Tyranitar needs brick break lasts to help pressure blissey under spikes, therefore Charizard needs to be our phazer
• Charizard using flamethower, hp grass, roar, and beat up can struggle to do enough damage. Intentionally running a -def nature and 22 defense IVs guarantees blaze after a CB meteor mash
• Flygons last move is screech to deal with rest suicune
• Registeel is counter to OHKO dugtrio also helps check metagross/snorlax better
• Both registeel and tyrantiar are invested to outspeed blissey and defensive swampert

Overall, a fun prompt to try and figure out. Thanks to Kollin7 for suggesting it. Happy to answer any questions about the team. Thanks for reading :)

​

​

 

[Dastardlydwarf]

https://pokepast.es/5b10838886f7043d


This write up is not going to be as detailed as johnalds.

I built this after reading a conversation about off gon. I thought it has some cool traits and can be pretty threatening if supported properly. I took inspiration from a zpanther team when building this.

I started off looking at flygon and figured when you use off gon you need decent support in the rock resist department so you don’t fall apart to aero and dd tar. I decided to pair it with a jirachi and breloom to give it a strong backbone vs rock spam. With these 3 Pokemon struggling vs dugtrio and gengar I decided to slot houndoom which can pursuit trap gengar and dugtrio choice locked into aerial ace. These 4 are pretty weak to defensive and offensive water types which gyarados really helps mitigate also being a ok switch into mix mence. As a bonus it can come in after a duh has gotten a potential ko with eq and dd for free. Lastly I needed a Pokemon to help deal with special attackers such as Zapdos, blissey is to passive which left either snorlax or celebi I felt celebi would put to much pressure on gyarados to handle fire types and mixmence so I choose snorlax.


Set details:
Breloom: just max max adamant I decided to lead it to get some early offensive pressure with sleep. Mach punch helps check dd tar and chip dug for a suit trap if it locks into aerial axe.

Houndoom: Enough speed to outrun jolly claydol and max speed Smeargle as well as max speed modest suicune. The spdef helps it switch in vs gengar and not be as threatened from tbolt. For its 4th move I choose hp grass to help chip water types for the rest of the team once it’s done it’s job.

Gyarados: taunt helps prevent spikes from skarm and potentially 1v1 it with hp rock. Hp rock over fly to threaten zapdos more. It also really helps in milotic match up denying it toxic and recover.

Flygon: has enough hp EVs to live 2 +1 hp bugs from adamant max attack dd tar, enough speed to outrun modest moltres and the rest into attack. Toxic helps deal with opposing flygon which the team would otherwise struggle to deal with and fire blast threatens skarm switching in as the team lacks magneton or rapid spin. It doesn’t need hp ghost or bug cause houndoom helps eliminate pixies and gar. Could also potentially run hp fly to help deal with fighters but I feel there is enough offensive pressure for the most common ones already.

Snorlax: is curse rest for a bit more longevity and staying power in the spec off match up. Return lets it be more offensively threatening and eq hits tar and metagross.

Jirachi: sub cm jirachi to help be a special check in a pinch as well as a secondary rock resist. Sub helps in the case of a cm war but mainly helps with dugtrio as if it can keep the sub up it isn’t threatened by it as much.

Pokemon that can be troublesome: metagross, especially agility metagross with rock slide can really tear apart this team. The jirachi could be changed to psy fire to help mitigate this however I feel tbolt is more important for the second mon on this section. Also houndoom, flygon, and gyarados can all offensively threaten it and dissuade meta potentially using agility.

offensive starmie, potentially a reason to run celebi over snorlax is cause off mie can be very hard to answer especially if spikes manage to go down. This is one of the main reasons I feel rachi needs to be tbolt and lax needs to be rest cause otherwise there wouldn’t be much at all stopping it defensively or offensively.

Hp ice Zapdos if played correctly can be extremely threatening. This one can be tough especially if spikes and sand are up the team might overly rely on jirachi to take on offensive Zapdos.

Skarmory can potentially be a problem if you don’t apply enough pressure. However I feel 5 out of 6 of these mons disrupt usual skarm stuff quite well. When using the team you do have to make doubles with lax to not completely give up momentum vs skarm teams.

 

[xtinaxendrix]

Dashback Grab



https://pokepast.es/265be65419305b1a



What if Medicham was even more clicker friendly? What if it could be played like another infamous glue guzzler, Melee Marth? With the threat of a massive unscoutable t1 choice banded hit, Medi can instead retreat with Baton Pass and punish its opp's whiffed response with a "grab" in the form of two trappers



or, a little less literally, two bulky hard hitting pivots



to reliably handle common leads and t1/2 Medi switchins on reaction. Offpert and 3a boom Lax both tend to trade very favorably with physical and special threats respectively, Lax being especially nasty early game before sand has been set up.

Medicham is ev'd to always live eq from the ABR drone's best friend, 252+ Dug, and outspeeds things trying to creep 252+ Tar by hitting 247 speed. It always lives cb Meta's eq (a common enough click, fearing mag) and ada 252+ Meta's mash. It also always survives 252+ Offcune's +0 hydro and 252+ Zap's tbolt. If the always slower cb Tar is crazy enough to stay in, it can only ohko with dedge (a roll). If you dgaf about any of that you can always make it faster, but the lum berry already handles faster sleep leads. You can also make it cb if you feel like using 20% of your brain instead of 0% but why would we want to do that?



So that makes five. These guys all hit pretty hard, the lowest offensive stats here both belong to offpert who usually has no trouble dispensing damage. What do we do with all this firepower and trapping and trading support? Adamant EndSalac Offgon!



An auxiliary rock resist and fast endgame cleaner (who can activate its +1 speed in the face of its strongest offensive checks), this guy is a ton of fun. The double hp grass trappers support Flygon by removing or maiming its least favorite opps (Skarm, Gar, Pert, even Gon and Mence can be lured with Tar's ice beam if its hp isn't needed for the Gar trap; more def evs can be allocated if you find yourself going for this a lot). Both trappers can also trade into noted bulky Gon foes Zap and Cune, if Lax has been chipped or you need to save the big man's hp for something else. Forcing damage on Meta with Mag is also great for the steel-neutral Gon. If you're worried about the Forre matchup, you can make Mag hp fire, but the double grass is *so* nice and makes the Pert snipe a lot easier to hit.

Endure + Salac + Ada allows Gon to go crazy lategame against teams that rely on hard-to-chip fast special threats such as Mie or ice Jolt/Kou to block its sweep in the endgame. Offmie specifically requires a little prior chip to finish off with eq, which can be fished for in a desperate situation with a single Rock Slide flinch. RS also finishes off suit-chipped Defgar. Pert + double trapper support + no item can bluff choice band quite well until Gon actually attacks something, and even then, the opp has to account for the possibility of sub salac/liechi sets and may be loathe to wait out its unrevealed endure for fear of it getting a substitute.

It's worth mentioning that this team auto-murders the popular El Classico. Medi lead starts off strong into their Tar, Skarm and Gar get trapped, you have two hp grass users to lure Pert, double bug-neutral ground types + double normal resists to troll Aero and Tar, offpert to shut out ice Zap (trading a tox for an ice beam gets it into ada Gon slide range). Truly one of the matchups of all time. It's a nightmare to face for just about any structure with two or more of Tar + Skarm + Gar, and can be devastating into a lot of other decently common matchups, such as double electric offense or Jolt spikes.

Go forth, put your brain in sleep mode, and hit some dashback grabs!

 

[pixie909]

Mimic Metagross + Cbgon Dug

https://pokepast.es/1a3e308acb69109a

Main idea - I wanted to build with spikes gon(with non - spikers -- )but then it felt a bit stale.The other option which flygon teams are good at if not spikes,is with but then i wanted to try,build something different with spikeless +an offensive gon set

Flygon sets -

a)Defensive :-
Flygon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 28 SpD / 32 Spe
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Toxic

b)Mixed/fblast:-
Flygon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 28 SpA / 32 Spe
Lax Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Rock Slide

c)Sub 3 attacks :-
Flygon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Hidden Power: Bug
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Substitute

d)Choice Band :-
Flygon @ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
Hidden Power: Bug
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 HP/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Gust/Toxic/Return/Double Edge

I wanted to build with Choice Band since that's a set which i don't use much

Team Building Process:-

1) Most common way of running Choice Band Flygon is to run it with but as i already mentioned earlier,i didn't feel good about using it
That immediately meant I needed a rock resist/skarm beatdown partners to complement it.
And i had the idea of trying a fun tech - Mimic

Metagross@ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Meteor Mash
- Mimic
- Earthquake
- Explosion

• 30 spe ivs allows to underspeed so u can mimic as they spike and get your own spike up

2)With and ,since i'm not running mag,i needed a spinner as both of them struggle with skarmory and let it get layers up
So , i added
-
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 192 SpD / 28 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Ice Beam

3)And after we'll get our own spikes up ,we'll need a spinblocker to make sure it doesn't get spun away
So enter
-
Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 176 HP / 156 SpD / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Explosion
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch


4) Now with the core of ,I needed a special check
And there's truly only one special wall in ADV
-
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

5)At this point,i wasn't sure what to add last but ,I realized that in spikeless MUs ,mimic might feel deadweight and then can just boom into nothing. So i thought of adding
-
Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Rock Slide

also pairs beautifully with Calm Mind since most of CMBliss common checks(, , ) are weak to dug
Plus with + having explosion,it meant that even if they land into rock/steels like they'll still get picked off by dug

All of CMBliss checks can be exploded on/burned by

Final Team:-


Other options:-
1) - HP Grass can help vs , but I prioritized Ice Beam to cover better.
2) - Destiny Bond over Ice Punch to handle better or just to trade 1v1 with anything . With Dbond + Wisp+ Boom,Gengar can afford running only 1 attack such as Tbolt/Night Shade

Overall,obviously this team isn't serious (cbgon+dug doesn't make much sense anyway lol)so there are plenty of flaws but building for this was a lot of fun.Thanks for this challenging prompt
Have fun with this!

 

[WraxiusGaming]

https://pokepast.es/73ecf5d8d867db4c

When I saw the challenge, my mind instantly went to spike structures I could use without Skarmory, but when I checked the thread and saw other great players already doing it, I wanted to try a different idea. The idea that held the most weight in my head was Houdini Metagross to eliminate Skarmory that utilized Offgon to abuse pixies and DDTar.
Metagross is Houdini, so I went with 248 speed to get past RestZap and Fearrachi and figured the speed would not matter. With Flygon and Jirachi on the team, I knew I didn't need it to fulfill defensive roles, so allowing it to fulfill purely offensive roles was great, and the rest of my team makes up for what Metagross lacks in spades.

Flygon is more than capable of abusing DDTar and Pixies, allowing for the rest of my team to not need to worry as much. Notably, Flygon's positive Jirachi and Celebi matchup allow for me to run a Suicune without ice beam or roar, and Flygon is more than capable of pressuring Zapdos and waters to not put all of the demand onto my Regice. I went with a standard Jolly Offgon set to allow for me to cut speed on the rest of my team and cover other matchups I thought were important, and Substitute makes prediction easier while pressuring most common spike offense teams, since those are the teams most likely to be exploited by lead Houdini.

Suicune is an overall pretty standard Suicune for this type of team with one slight moveset change. I considered an even faster set but I found that 216+ is just enough SpA to pressure skarmory should houdini fail and in combination with Mirror Coat, I can very consistently win interactions vs CM Blissey. Mirror Coat also has the fantastic trait of beating Zapdos and usually ohkoing outright. One concern is Cursepert or Celebi, however Cursepert has to check Jirachi, Regice, and Metagross on it's common teams and the combo of Flygon, Jirachi, and Salamence is more than capable of beating most Celebis. Lastly, Mirror Coat is a great midground to prevent yourself from losing to Destiny Bond Gengar while still covering a Tbolt.

Jirachi is a fairly standard sub set. I considered going faster but I found that 259 speed was enough for most offensive celebis with leech seed that I would need to CM to beat and plenty enough for defensive sets. Jirachi is part of the primary core being used to pressure fat teams that might otherwise play around houdini or can limit me from booming, another rock resist that enables Offgon and makes me extremely safe into Aerodactyl. Standard Boltbeam coverage covers everything from Suicune, Tyranitar, Claydol, and so on. Jirachi also alleviates pressure off of Regice vs the special threats that run passive damage such as Zapdos and waters. I considered running more SpA but I found that just running modest was more than enough for my main benchmarks and 92 def is good enough for Aerodactyl and Tyranitar on this team.

Regice is the primary special check. I tried to utilize other special pivots such as Celebi, Snorlax, and Claydol, but I found them too clunky on this team without more dramatic changes. I then settled on Regice, a fairly standard 4 moves you'd find on the pokemon, because its more than effective to check the main pokemon I need a traditional special check for. Subrachi and Flygon handle waters and pixies that can break through Regice or try to exploit it for setup, and Regice is more than capable of switching into threats the rest of my team might need to scout coverage for, such as Gengar and Jirachi. Lastly, Regice also helps greatly into my Salamence matchup. Both Mixmence and DDMence would be significant problems for this team if not for Regice, and I would have been forced to run Ice Beam Suicune instead of Mirror Coat in order to help that matchup, which would have made me far too weak to fat structures such as V5 for this team to be viable. One consideration on this set was HP Fire, but I couldn't figure out what move would be worth dropping for a move that trades into many of the same things Boltbeam and Twave do, and Explosion wasn't droppable when I need it to break through pieces as passive damage stacks onto Regice and guarantee value.

Salamence is a very odd set. DDMence is a common 6th on this type of structure, as it is immune to spikes, intimidate checks fighters, and exploits dug structures. However, this Mence set changes out two common coverage options instead of just one. HP Ghost is necessary in order to check Gengar, a notable problem for this team. Against the most common gar structures of Classico and Dug Offense (such as the Jynx Offenses that have cropped up more and more) Flying is rarely necessary with how much the rest of the team chips down these cores, and Brick Break makes killing the most significant issue for this team, Blissey, a breeze. HP Ghost also very notably hits Starmie much harder, a matchup that is close to unplayable without HP Ghost Mence (such as vs the most common Mixmence Offmie spikes core or Triple Nat Cure with Celebi, Starmie, and Blissey). In combination with everything else on this team, there is enough defensive and offensive layering that the loss of Earthquake and HP Flying shouldn't meaningfuly impact this team's ability to win vs fighters, pixies, or Metagross.

Overall the team is a fairly unique take on the common Meta Cune Mence Offensive Core that should have enough tools to win most matchups and enough techs to get around the difficult matchups such as SkarmGars, CMBliss + Fearrachi, or Zapdos + Mixmence. This was a fun team to build and also quite fun to play with. :)

 

[4lowray]

Double Trapper Bandgon by 4lowray (4lowrey)

Techniques used
The following are the techniques used to build and test the team:

• Observe other players' teams, since I am not a very experienced player, much less an experienced builder.
• Test teams on ladder/friendlies.
• Observe meta trends. (
  
  )

Observations about Flygon
How I see it is that Flygon has two niches going for it, one that fits its defensive profile and one that fits its offensive profile. On the defensive side, we have a spike immune rock resist that works extremely well on Spikes balances, and even though this is usually paired with Skarmory as it makes a good Superman cores, its to note that Forretress has been a partner for it that works just as well, particularly, "thelinearcurve" seemed to enjoy this pairing. This works even better thanks to the synergy with Pursuit Tyranitar and Defensive Jirachi.
On the offensive side, there are two approaches one can take: spikeless or spikes. With spikes, its strong Earthquakes and good speed tier forces out a lot of Pokémon, racking up damage. On spikeless, it's a little weird: it's usually taking a Mixed/Offensive or Band approach, each that seem to take a different path. Honestly, I tried working a little bit with Mixed/Offensive Flygon but the lack of power was just disappointing. It's almost there, but not quite there, and has personally felt horrible to use, even when following the directions of better players to use standard Magneton/Metagross/Snorlax cores. An interesting core I considered but didn't dig that deep into was the Milotic/Celebi core, which seemed to be very popular with Offensive Flygon and sometimes Magneton to support it.
Banded Flygon really interested me, especially its strong Earthquake paired with a good speed tier. The pairing with Magneton and Pursuit Tyranitar is interesing, because these two seem to target most Levitate or FLYING-type users, and I wanted to expand on that a little more.

The Team
The win condition I have built the team around is simple: remove as many Earthquake immunes/resists and chip targets that can take Flygon's Earthquake (Swampert).

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake

Pursuit Tyranitar is a must have. Gengar destroys this team and Flygon has an especially hard time to deal with it, since it can generate opportunites for Gengar to punish the team heavily. This Tyranitar also has other important applications however: it often chips Zapdos and Salamence, can trade its health to deal with opposing defensive Flygon, which can also be a problem. Earthquake is chosen to hit lead Tyranitar (Dragon Dance lead Tyranitar can be a problem for the team), deal with Substitute + Calm Mind Jirachi and Raikou.

Breloom @ Leftovers
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Stun Spore
- Sky Uppercut
- Mach Punch

The disruption generated by sleep-inducing moves is always great to have on an offensive team, especially if lacking spikes. Notice how a lot of defensive switches into Breloom are also Flygon switch-ins (FLYING-types, Levitate users): this is why Stun Spore. Catching these Pokémon on the switch (usually after a successful Spore) can be decisive for Flygon to chip them later or make them afraid to stay in on a potential Banded Rock Slide (that has a chance to flinch!) and 100% helps Pursuit Tyranitar lock its target. Mach Punch can deal with Dragon Dance Tyranitar when chipped and, if trapped by Dugtrio, a Mach Punch into a subsequent Pursuit from Tyranitar can be the end of it. This is especially good considering a lot of teams only have Dugtrio as their main form of offense/revenge killer.

Magneton @ Magnet
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Toxic
- Protect

The usual fellow, not much to say. Traps Skarm and Forre. Sometimes can chip Metagross into Flygon range, as a banded Earthquake rarely OHKO's.

Flygon @ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Double-Edge

Strong Earthquakes on a fast and decently bulky Pokémon. Double-Edge was chosen as a mid-ground, but I still have my doubts about it. Toxic is a good consideration, since without its common steel switch-in Skarmory around, it can threaten Swampert and FLYING-types with a debilitating status effect. It probably was the better option, but I didn't test it and don't feel like testing it right now.

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Hidden Power: Flying
EVs: 216 HP / 16 Atk / 88 SpD / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature 
- Dragon Dance
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Earthquake
- Rest

Admittedly, a weird choice. But this bulkier Gyarados can stomach a lot of hits and can straight up win games, especially if Magneton and Skarmory have already been taken care off. It exploits a lot of defensive, bulky switch-ins like Swampert and Blissey without Thunderbolt. This also gives Intimidate support, which is very useful when your rock resist is a steel type. It's not an Aerodactyl check by any means, but Intimidate makes it easier to pivot around it. A WATER-type feels mandatory with Flygon, since every interation of the team felt particularly weak to a lot of mixed attackers, especially Salamence, whose speed tier was hard to overcome.

Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature 
- Seismic Toss
- Counter
- Toxic
- Explosion

At first, this was a Metagross. However, thanks to BluesEnergy00, I realized that with Metagross in this slot, the team is TERRIBLE into offensive Starmie. Zapdos is also a problem, but can be handled with a bulkier Magneton and a timely Stun Spore. With Registeel, this is no longer a problem however. Registeel also serves as the supporting rock resist, which this team 100% needs since Flygon is not nearly bulky enough to be a good rock resist alone.

Teams Referenced

• MagBulky BPCele SuitRoarTar CBHeras CBGon Milo by thelinearcurve.
• Mag RestGyara CBGon Venu by thelinearcurve.
• Various Milotic + Celebi + Magneton teams found on Smogon Dumps.

Personal Notes (unrelated to the team)

This is my first time entering this kind of competition. I realize the team might not be the best or most original, but I seriously want to get better at teambuilding and figured this to be the best way to achieve that. Thank you to the hosts and any readers who have taken the time to read this.