Lower Tiers ADV ZU Metagame Discussion [NEW META]

[BP]

approved by Star
art by skrimps

ADV ZU

Hello everybody and welcome to ADV ZU's discussion thread! I've posted resources below that should help you get started if you're new to the metagame. If you'd like a more in-depth analysis you can check out our article here or take a look at the plethora of on-site analysis we've uploaded.
​

Baton Pass is limited to Dry Pass only in ADV ZU. You cannot use Baton Pass in conjunction with status moves that can pass a beneficial effect to any switch-in, including Substitute.

​

ZUBL

The following Pokemon are banned, and therefore not legal in ADV ZU.

Viability Rankings

Pokemon are ordered within their ranks alphabetically. The list does not include every legal Pokemon.

S
Aipom
Graveler
Seaking

A+
Flaaffy
Ponyta
Porygon

A
Anorith
Gloom
Koffing
Noctowl
Quilava
Wartortle

A-
Beedrill
Doduo
Meditite

B+
Ariados
Castform
Clamperl
Pineco
Tentacool
Volbeat

B
Butterfree
Delcatty
Drowzee
Lileep
Magnemite
Spoink
Staryu
Wailmer
Weepinbell

B-
Cubone
Delibird
Elekid
Lombre
Numel
Smoochum
Sunflora

C+
Croconaw
Exeggcute
Farfetch'd
Horsea
Magby
Masquerain
Onix
Rhyhorn
Shuppet
Voltorb

C
Aron
Bayleef
Dratini
Dustox
Grimer
Larvitar
Nosepass
Parasect

Role Compendium

Cleric Support
Aromatherapy / Heal Bell
Wish

Disruption
Encore
Haze
Roar / Whirlwind
Taunt
Trick

Hazards + Removal
Rapid Spin
Spikes
Spin-blocking

Pivots + Momentum
Baton Pass (Dry Pass)
Memento
Pursuit

Priority Users
ExtremeSpeed
Fake Out
Mach Punch
Quick Attack

Setup Sweepers
Agility
Belly Drum
Bulk Up
Calm Mind
Curse
Dragon Dance
Swords Dance

Status Spreaders
GrassWhistle
Hypnosis
Sleep Powder
Sing
Spore
Stun Spore
Thunder Wave
Will-o-Wisp

Wallbreakers
Choice Band
Explosion / Self-Destruct

Weather
Sunny Day
Chlorophyll
Rain Dance
Swift Swim
Forecast
Cloud Nine

Full List of Legal Pokemon

https://pokepast.es/4efe4bb18ec02f8b

Speed Tiers

https://pastebin.com/4iBEWZgb

ZU Old Gens Hub Post

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...ly-banned-from-oras-287.3646944/#post-8034684

 

[BP]

Fire Water Grass Onix BO By: BP

Triple Normal BO By: BP

Koffense By: Monai

Flaaffy + Graveler Balance By: wooper

Sun (Reworked) By: SEA

Rain By: BP

Sample Archive

New Meta Sample Placeholders

Double Fire Offense By: BP

Anorith Monkey Balance By: BP

Mixed Spider Balance By: BP

Beedrill Balance By: TomatoZause

Sun By: BP

Outdated (Frozen Meta Samples)

Butterfree + LureHorn Offense By: BP

Wailmer + Cubone Offense By: BP

Cleaner Growlithe Bulky Offense By: BP

Magnemite Balance By: OranBerryBlissey10

Cubone Balance By: wooper

Rain By: Gangsta Spongebob

 

[DripLegend]

i've had a lot of fun with this tier and helped out a bunch of ppl that had solid runs in last years classic cup for ADV so figured i could do a dump.

cool sets:

Aipom @ Leftovers
Ability: Pickup
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Protect
- Return

subtox aipom beats everything except koffing and aron

Dustox
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Def / 128 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
- Psychic / Secret Power
- Thief
- Moonlight
- Sludge Bomb

dustox really only gets blocked by other fat walls and thief is so nice for enabling offense. secret power also rly cool for spreading para in a tier where its amazing. it sits in on a lot of other mons (including itself) so it usually has a decent amount of chances to fish for para.

Dustox @ Leftovers
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 248 HP / 232 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonlight
- Sunny Day
- Toxic
- Psychic

sunny day is nice as a middle finger to rain, also helps with 8pp being ass for moonlight

Nosepass @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Rock Slide
- Toxic
- Thunder Wave
- Earthquake / Protect

one of the most underrated mons in the tier (besides the one below), toxic/twave make progress really well, also hard sits on delcatty and checks aipom better than most.

Pineco @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 248 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Explosion
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin

elite lead, spikes in this tier go a long way

Rhyhorn @ Choice Band
Ability: Lightning Rod
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 0
EVs: 216 HP / 232 Atk / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Megahorn
- Sleep Talk

soft aipom check and solid breaker

Taillow @ Choice Band
Ability: Guts
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Aerial Ace
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Facade

very good breaker that is one of the better physical mons into koffing, probably the best

Cacnea @ Leftovers / Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Counter / Toxic
- Giga Drain

another spikes lead, really good into staryu and counter nice early game when healthy

Castform @ Leftovers / Chesto Berry
Ability: Forecast
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Atk / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Return
- Thunder Wave

viable af with heal bell, if you don't have that on the team then drop sleep talk and go chesto with like thief/move for rhyhorn/shadow ball

Bayleef @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 160 Def / 100 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Counter / Protect / Synthesis
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Toxic

fucking owns rain and like every water type, leech seed is amazing at making progress in a relatively safe way, i use counter the most but the other 2 moves are helpful

Natu @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 24 HP / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Psychic
- Protect

this tier like doesnt have viable psychic resists so subtox natu is a demon. somewhat hard to get in, but aipom baton pass or just smart doubles can get this guy in a position to break defensive cores or just drop psychics on offense.

braindead offenses:
https://pokepast.es/bf468ca93b3d1378 - elekid spikes offense
a pretty solid/effective offense. aipom and elekid both win eventually if you play good, nosepass as a sturdy aipom check. pineco is a fantastic lead, good vs snorunt, aipom, and sleep leads. spdef isn't ohkoed by like anything besides fire types, which this team is fairly weak to. castform and bayleef are fairly replaceable if you wanna tweak, but the other 4 are essential. also somewhat weak to koffing, its best to counter with bayleef if possible.
https://pokepast.es/f10ad59202fb1133 - rain
basic rain, castform can be hard to wall. aipom is a cool lead for rain
balance:
https://pokepast.es/5ae996e9322c2534
macho brace delcatty is stupid af but slow wishpassing poggers, body slam kinda makes no sense on the set but neither does shadow ball lol. tailow a good breaker thru into koffing builds, magnemite super trolls the team so thats why its hp ground bayleef. natu is nice as a breaker that is semi fast
https://pokepast.es/0a4e890ac03ddd70
slow af team, you should probably be focus punch> brick break. subpass is allowed on ladder btw, make toxic if it gets banned.

i'll probably try for ladder tour time willing since this tier is rly fun but yea thx for reading if u made it this far hopefully this post gave new insight into the tier :]

 

[BP]

Gonna post a team that I topped the ladder with under the alt Advanced ZU. I'll post an in-depth team description so you can get an idea of how it's used and why it's built that way.

Importable

Aipom @ Choice Band
Ability: Run Away
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Brick Break
- Shadow Ball
- Baton Pass

Croconaw (M) @ Salac Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 HP / 20 Def / 244 SpA / 240 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Substitute
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Koffing @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Pain Split
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Will-O-Wisp

Castform @ Leftovers
Ability: Forecast
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Atk / 120 SpD / 28 Spe
Brave Nature
- Protect
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Double-Edge

Numel @ Leftovers
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Elekid @ Lum Berry
Ability: Static
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
- Quick Attack
- Hidden Power [Grass]

This team follows the standard offensive core of Elekid + Koffing + Castform. Koffing is the fake normal resist whose sole purpose is removing Rhyhorn and eating Double Edge from Aipom in hopes of getting it below 70%. Once Aipom is below 70% Elekid is able to revenge kill it with Thunderbolt. Castform on this team is used solely for opposing Chinchou as it's able to OHKO offensive variants with Double Edge. Numel is used as safe switch-in to both Elekid and Koffing assuming they aren't Hidden Power Water which is only ever seen for Numel specifically. Numel can also reliably answer Magnemite which can prove to be troublesome otherwise since Castform lacks Flamethrower and Elekid lacks Fire Punch. Lead Aipom is specifically used as it is able to OHKO Butterfree and the most common Wailmer set. Moreover, it's also able to weaken or remove specially defensive Pokemon that the team otherwise struggles with like Dustox and Delcatty. Finally, Salac Croconaw acts as a fantastic Wincon capable of sweeping teams once Torrent is active in conjunction with its Salac Berry boost. It's EV'd to always live a Double Edge from CB Aipom bar an unfortunate crit which provides the team with another Aipom answer if Koffing has its hands full.

 

[5Dots]

I'm also posting a team which I topped the ladder with:

Spikes are frankly superb here, though there are only three Spikes setters: The frail Snorunt, the largely unviable Cacnea, and...Pineco? Yes, Pineco sticks out in many ways compared with Snorunt. Superior physical bulk, which means it's easier for it to come in and out (max physical bulk usually lives CB Aipom's Double Edge and most other physical attacks), Rapid Spin, which makes it useful for clearing hazards on its side, and Explosion, which reduces its passivity. Pineco's main drawback is its rock-bottom Speed (slower than even Koffing!), which causes it to make matchups like Koffing, Rhyhorn, and Cubone more difficult than it would like. I slotted HP Grass to improve the matchup against the aforementioned Ground-types. Water Veil Seaking was cool against Koffing (especially burned ones!) and employed a Protect + 3 Attacks set to become a bulky and potent mixed wallbreaker. Dustox's fourth move was quite customizable, but it struggled hard against Magnemite and Aron - Hidden Power Ground was a neat tech to 2HKO both of them, and can finish off paralyzed Fire-types like Growlithe and Cyndaquil easier. Aipom was mostly standard, but like Dustox, its fourth move was flexible since it was already a potent wallbreaker. I went along with Return to ease its vulnerability to getting worn down. Yes, losing out on the 2HKO on Koffing can suck, but Aipom is so fast and strong that it's often better to select other times to wallbreak later in the game than to risk chipping too much health away. Growlithe was the team's late-game cleaner, employing an Agility + Petaya berry and using its Fire/Grass coverage to hit all non Fire-types for at least neutral damage. Intimidate softening up physical attackers like Aipom and Shuppet helped make setting up or wallbreaking safer. Nosepass was the last slot, providing all-around good mixed bulk, Thunder Wave support, and Explosion to trade with almost anything. This team can be vulnerable to Water-types like Seaking and Chinchou, status users like Lileep and Koffing, and especially Substitute Delibird, as the team can often have trouble absorbing status because Dustox is tasked with checking a lot, and if Delibird gets a safe Substitute against Pineco, Dustox, or Nosepass, one'd have to often sacrifice a Pokemon or two to beat it. Funnily enough, Snorunt + Shuppet can also be a huge problem, since Pineco can't spin against Shuppet and would have to trade itself to even take down Shuppet, plus Snorunt can set up as many Spikes as it wants against Pineco, only fearing Explosion.

Try it out and have a great day!

 

[wooper]

i didnt top the ladder with this but i had a lot of fun building and piloting this!



lead wailmer is a great option for offense because of its powerful water spout and the threat of self-destruct. spread lives jolly band aipom double edge, max spatk elekid tbolt, and outspeeds neutral nature max speed growlithe and creeps any seaking looking to outspeed said growlithe. useful for trading vs bulky waters like the aforementioned seaking but also chinchou , which the team struggles a bit against, even though boom can be kinda predictable and telegraphed. lum for lead butterfree and any rogue para, but salac might also be the wave to get off a fast boom because you take hits well enough to live in pinch range


cubone is one of the strongest physical attackers in the tier thanks to thick club , bolstered even further with sd. stab + double edge with rock head is all you need to nuke the tier, so the last slot is for sub, which isnt broken by a psychic from an uninvested dustox . i chose bonemerang to hit through opposing subs, but eq is more reliable


mostly standard agility growlithe here. i like this set in particular more than sub 2 attacks with petaya over lum because of the matchup into spoink , opposing growlithe , and for making mid-ground plays. intim + 76 def avoids the ohko from jolly band aipom , and speed is just leftover from max spatk; you dont need much because you outspeed the entire unboosted meta easily after an agility, and positive nature max speed base 70s if theyre +1 from a random salac . ive also used flash fire with max spatk + max speed, but the team struggles more into aipom as a result


elekid speed checks the entire tier, barring voltorb and the rare luvdisc . its excellent coverage options make it a metagame staple, and was a no-brainer addition to the team. sub + petaya can be really potent, and is a great way to clean up games with the proper team support. fire punch hits magnemite and grass-types like sunflora and is neutral vs s-rank lileep ; hp grass rounds out its moveset to hit rhyhorn and chinchou super effectively.


treecko is not seen too often, if ever, but my team was looking weak to ground-types and i wasnt sure which route to go. i thought back to my good friend skrimps beating me with a sub endeavor treecko to enable a bd zigzagoon he will never let me live this down and i decided to try out something similar with salac , and surprisingly, it worked really well with the team. endeavor shenanigans helps immensely vs fat mons like dustox , delcatty , and lileep , with toxic helping to whittle down the former 2. dont underestimate stab hp grass in overgrow either!


i rounded out the team with sd croconaw to take advantage of the holes punched in water-types by its earlier teammates and to help them by breaking common fat staples like lileep , delcatty , dustox , and koffing .

i tried out other versions of the team with bulky mixed castform and non-banded aipom over treecko, but i really did not like them and i was not seeing as much success as i was with the original. if theres one thing i want you to take away from this post, it's that pinchberry strats are good--use them! happy laddering! o/

 

[BP]

I wanted to take the time to call to attention two Pokemon that have a lot of merit but don't see a whole lot of usage presumably due to not knowing how to build with them. I'll cover what makes them viable and what they should be used for on a team. Below the set, I'll list pokemon that it can check from most important to least important though this may vary depending on the team you use it on.

Set

Numel @ Leftovers / Chesto Berry
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Pokemon it checks


Numel finds itself as an incredibly useful bulky attacker that is able to set itself apart from Castform due to it being able to reliably check Koffing that lack HP water and Elekid. This is its main use and it's able to do its job incredibly well as Elekid nor Koffing can touch it and both are threatened heavily by its STAB. Outside of these two meta-defining Pokemon, Numel is able to check the other Fire-types assuming they lack HP Water which can be huge in an end-game scenario where Growlithe is at +2 Speed. Butterfree is also worth noting as Numel doesn't mind being put to sleep as it heavily limits Butterfree's effectiveness with Sleep Clause mod activated. Numel's main downfall is Chinchou which is one of the most popular special attackers in the metagame. It heavily limits its ability to function as a team's sole special attacker check which is why it makes a fantastic partner alongside Bulky Castform which also appreciates Koffing's removal.

Set

Nidorino @ Choice Band / Leftovers
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Return
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Facade / Double Kick

Pokemon it checks


Nidorino is an incredibly unique physical wallbreaker. It's completely and utterly walled by Koffing but its monster base Attack and STAB-boosted Sludge Bomb allow it to stand out. These attributes allow it to reliably check Lileep as it is able to fish for Poison and force Lileep to use Recover every time it's hit by Sludge Bomb. Delcatty is 2HKOed by all of Nidorino's attacks bar Facade without a boost and should be hesitant to click Body Slam due to its own Para-chance alongside Nidorino's Poison Point. Grimer cannot do anything to Nidorino and is 2HKOed by Return. Dustox's Psychic 3HKOes while Return again 2HKOes. Sunflora fails to OHKO Nidorino while Sunny Day is active with HP Fire while Nidorino can remove it easily with Sludge Bomb. Both Magnemite and Aron are threatened by Nidorino's Fighting-type coverage. Double Kick can be used specifically for Substitute Magnemite allowing it to break its Substitute and prevent it from using Substitute again. Nidorino cements itself as an incredible secondary wallbreaker and is able to work extremely well and heavily dent supposed switch-ins once Koffing is removed.

 

[BP]

Hey all! I'd like to start first by thanking every person who decided to ladder in this month's community ladder. It meant a lot to the entirety of the council and established ADV player base that what we worked so hard to create was finally open to a bigger audience. With the monthly ladders time dwindling, ADV ZU Ladder tour playoffs, and the ROA ADV ZU tour the council decided it would be the perfect time to address the community on some things we've been talking about for the last couple of months. Below I've included a player survey to help shed light on what we've been discussing.

The Link to the Player Survey can be found Here

The survey's deadline Sunday December 10th

 

[wooper]

the results of the survey are in! see our next steps here.

 

[wooper]

the results of the survey are in! see our next steps here.

results of the suspect test are here! delcatty is now banned and baton pass is limited to dry pass only--no passing stat boosts or sub allowed!

 

[BP]

Post heavily taken from Gangsta Spongebob
ADV ZU has unfrozen which means our metagame has undergone a vast number of changes. First of all, everyone give a warm welcome to Monai who has joined Council! Secondly, with PU updating their VR, ADV ZU has been shaken up massively. I will be updating the OP with resources as they come about. For now, all we have is a list of legal Pokemon which can be found here.

Rises and Drops

Rises:

Chinchou ZU -> PU

Drops:

Anorith PU -> ZU

Ariados PU -> ZU

Beedrill PU -> ZU

Clamperl PU -> ZU

Doduo PU -> ZU

Drowzee PU -> ZU

Flaaffy PU -> ZU

Graveler PU -> ZU

Lombre PU -> ZU

Magby PU -> ZU

Meditite PU -> ZU

Noctowl PU -> ZU

Ponyta PU -> ZU

Porygon PU? -> ZU

Smoochum PU -> ZU

Tentacool PU -> ZU

Volbeat PU -> ZU

Wartortle PU -> ZU

Weepinbell PU -> ZU

With ZU becoming much stronger, the Council has also decided to free every proper preexisting ZUBL Pokemon:

Unbans:

Delcatty ZUBL -> ZU

Gloom ZUBL -> ZU

Quilava ZUBL -> ZU

For those out of the loop, we've been playing this metagame for a while. We've had access to the new VR already, it's just been a matter of waiting until PU formally updated their Viability Rankings. After numerous test games, the ADV ZU Council has decided to ban the following Pokemon:

Bans:

Corsola PU -> ZUBL

Lairon PU -> ZUBL

Poliwhirl PU -> ZUBL

Shedinja PU -> ZUBL




First up, Corsola has been banned due to its centralization as a bulky Calm Mind sweeper. It is extremely bulky by ZU standards, with moves such as Duduo's banded Hidden Power Ground and Aipom's Banded Brick Break struggling to break through it, while a quad-super effective Hidden Power Grass from Pokemon like Quilava and Flaffy don't even do deal do that much damage after a Calm Mind or two. This is combined with the fact that Corsola has little trouble in the power department. Most of the Pokemon that can threaten it with super effective attacks are often 2-3HKOed by its unboosted moves.

What ultimately puts Corsola over the edge is its absurd longevity. 32 PP Recover already provides immense staying power, and an ability in Natural Cure is the cherry on top. Not only do you struggle to remove it once it starts setting up, but Corsola has no trouble simply switching in and out and beginning setting up again, especially due to how bad Spikes are.

There are arguments against banning Corsola, as while it can be instantly threatening against many teams, it lacks the power to 6-0 opponents on its own. Plus, some extremely powerful wallbreakers such as Choice Band Graveler and Clamperl can take it out somewhat reliably. However, its longevity forces teams to use a tiny pool of Pokemon to deal with it, most of whom can't easily switch in, which is why it gets the ban hammer.



Next up is Lairon, probably the least controversial ban here. This thing's stats are just way too high. Comparing it to a pre-unfreeze top-tier, Rhyhorn, Lairon is both stronger, with its Steel-type STAB able to outright 2HKO defensive staples like Koffing, bulkier with its absurd physical defense, and even faster, making it harder to Speed creep.

Lairon isn't perfect, as its still-low Speed and special bulk make it vulnerable to special attackers, with many such as Quilava able to OHKO it outright. And it does have exploitable weaknesses that can lead it to being sniped and KOed. However, despite the fact the ZU has been massively power crept, Lairon is just way too punishing to defensive cores while having too strong of a matchup against physically offensive threats to be allowed in here.



Poliwhirl essentially does what Poliwag did in GSC ZU. Sleep the opponent (with Hypnosis this time), set up a Belly Drum, and sweep. With an excellent base 90 Speed, once it gets going it's extremely hard to stop. The thing is, it is indeed very inconsistent. Relying on Hypnosis and poor bulk means Poliwhirl can very easily miss and lose too much HP to set up. It isn't that strong either, with physical walls like Lileep equipped with the bulk to take at least one +6 Attack. However, it forces both cheesy game states and forces teams to run multiple physical walls or Quick Attack users to reliably take it down. Plus, it can also run a Substitute set or even a specially attacking set to take advantage of the very rigid plays it forces. Poliwhirl isn't the most consistently broken thing ever, but it's extremely unhealthy, which is why it has been banned.



Shedinja will undoubtedly be the most controversial ban here, and for good reason. 12 immunities seem nice until you see Shedinja's stats, notably its single point of HP. Shedinja is infamously terrible outside of some very fringe success in Ubers. However, ZU has the perfect storm of factors to make it deeply unhealthy.

First of all, traditionally Shedinja is a non-issue because of Spikes. The issue is that Spikes are terrible here. We've got numerous new Rapid Spinners, no new Spikers, and the only Spinblockers are Shedinja itself and the massively power-crept Shuppet. Spikes are simply bad on the vast majority of teams, so pressuring them to run Pineco, Shuppet, or Cacnea isn't healthy. Another thing is that 90 Attack is extremely good by ZU standards, so Shedinja is quite threatening, limiting the pool of Pokemon that can switch into it when it inevitably forces something out.

However, there is some dissent. Like, it's Shedinja guys, it's annoying but it's extremely vulnerable to status and just loses to half the tier. It can also accidentally make Porygon borderline unkillable. However, the ban side is valid, given the timeline of tournaments. Olympiad is coming soon, and many of the pro-ban sides argue that it's better to ban likely very unhealthy Pokemon rather than allow them the opportunity to fester and potentially ruin tournaments. Either way, we will revisit Shedinja in the future, once we have a better understanding of the new ZU.



We also voted on Gloom among the pool of Pokemon recently freed. Arguments for its ban cite its massive bulk combined with its access to Swords Dance and reliable recovery, making it a tough-to-break bulky sweeper. Its immunity to Toxic is another excellent trait to have. It also finds use on sun teams, being a very threatening sweeper among a cast of extremely powerful teammates.

However, ultimately Gloom is too flawed to be banworthy at the moment. Its bulk, while great, isn't enough for it to take on attackers like Quilava and Ponyta. Meanwhile, it's extremely vulnerable to burn, especially from the still-solid Koffing. Finally, while Sun has potential, at the moment it's way too unoptimized to pose any problem. Gloom has potential to be broken, but so far it's not enough of an issue to justify a ban.


If you are interested in having a chance to play this new meta a high level I would recommend signing up for ZU Olympiad which can be found here.

 

[plznostep]

ADV ZU Mega Post; Overview on the current Metagame in my personal opinion

What are the main playstyles of ADV ZU thus far?​

ADV ZU is mainly a meta dominated by Hyper Offense or general Offense structures. There are many hard hitting threats such as Aipom, Seaking, and Quilava which tear holes into slower based teams which makes building Balance or Stall difficult, but not impossible with proper consideration of threats. Another factor making offense so strong is that it is difficult to get your threats in. Defensive pivots are practically dead, with the only relatively bulky Pokemon having Baton Pass being Delcatty, who can't fit it, or Ariados, which is just okay with the move. Offense usually doesn't have this problem as games are very past faced and these frail attackers are able to get in just from sacking something. Additionally, status can be a bit of a problem for slower based teams as the tiers clerics are Delcatty and Flaaffy, and while they are not terrible, Delcatty suffers from only mediocre defensive stats and Flaaffy can struggle a bit against faster paced teams without any bulk or resistances to back up its attacks, not to mention the momentum loss the move has.

In terms of speed control, Salac Berry users are very common. Beedrill, Anorith, Quilava, and Wartortle just to name a few are some Salac Berry users that use it to get the jump on Aipom and Ponyta (if not in range of Quick Attack) and all are great at cleaning up teams. This makes priority quite important on teams as otherwise you will be gunned down by these top tier threats. Sun is quite popular for a similar reason, with Gloom being the premier Chlorophyll user with Weepinbell not too far behind and Quilava being absolutely monstrous in general. It fairs quite well into most Offense teams as the speed boost it provides is great for cleaning up the frail attackers Offense teams usually run. However, the playstyle can struggle with Pokemon like Ponyta and Castform as both deal with the abusers quite well. Rain also exists, albeit not really as a full team style. It's more in self setters such as Seaking and Lombre who specialize in cleaning unprepared teams in the late game usually setting up on targets like Quilava, Ponyta, and Wartortle. These two can struggle a bit more into the tiers special walls like Noctowl and Porygon however, solidifying their role as cleaners.

Now we have a general rundown of what is common here, let's go in depth on the Pokemon of the tier.

Viability Rankings
(credit to SEA and BP for the vast majority of these sets :3)​

S Rank

Seaking

Seaking @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Double-Edge
- Return
- Hydro Pump

Seaking @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 48 HP / 136 Def / 252 SpA / 72 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Ice Beam

Seaking is probably the best Pokemon in the tier. It has great bulk and typing to switch into Pokemon like Quilava and Ponyta with set versatility in either Rain Dance or Choice Banded. Due to this fact, you may commonly see it as a lead with how efficient it is at consistently trading. It is also aided by the fact that Electric-types aren't too common and Grass-type moves are weak unless it's facing Sun, making its weaknesses not come up all too often. It's best set is probably Choice Band as it's one of the most difficult Pokemon to switch into as Megahorn + Hydro Pump coverage is nigh unwallable, with only basically only Wartortle being able to take it well enough. Water Veil is also a neat little trait that gives it immunity to Koffing's Will O Wisp. Rain Dance is also really scary too as most people expect Choice Band which gets dicey when it reveals Rain Dance and sweeps your team. Overall really good and most teams should consider it.

Aipom

Aipom @ Choice Band
Ability: Run Away
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Brick Break
- Focus Punch
- Baton Pass

Aipom @ Silk Scarf / Leftovers
Ability: Run Away
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Return
- Focus Punch
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Substitute

Right behind it is Aipom, the tiers best breaker in my personal opinion. Normal STAB is ridiculous here as Graveler and Onix are the most common ones and they really hate taking a stray Focus Punch or Brick Break, not to mention if it's running Hidden Power Water, you are in for a world of pain. For other Normal resists, Anorith is not a real Normal resist, Lileep is bad and Aron is... Aron. As a result, many teams forgo running Normal resists on offense and so it's just really easy to click here and when combined with Aipoms high speed only being outsped by Ponyta, Elekid, and Voltorb. It's one flaw is lack of bulk unlike Seaking and it is fairly easy to know what it's going to do, although Substitute sets may pop up here and there. That is why I think it is Number 2 and not Number 1 anymore.

A+ Rank

Ponyta

Ponyta @ Silk Scarf / Choice Band
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Double-Edge
- Quick Attack
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Water]

Ponyta @ Lum Berry
Ability: Run Away
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Sunny Day
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Ponyta is a really important Pokemon in the tier. Its speed tier of Base 90 makes it one of the fastest Pokemon available only outsped by Luvdisc, who has fallen off very hard, Elekid, and Voltorb. These Pokemon are all not very common and thus Ponyta has the monopoly on speed. Its physical attack is also wonderful so it hits quite hard with Double Edge boosted via a Silk Scarf while Fire Blast + Hidden Power Water mop up remaining checks like Gloom and Graveler. Additionally, Flash Fire gives Ponyta entry on Quilava and it has great defensive utility versus Sun as said before. Ponyta's big flaw however is that it lets in Rain Dancer's late game. Both Lombre and Seaking survive Double Edge into Quick Attack and OHKO it back with a Rain boosted Hydro Pump, which can be disastrous in late game

Graveler

Graveler @ Leftovers
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Double-Edge
- Explosion
- Protect

Graveler @ Choice Band
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Double-Edge
- Explosion

Graveler is next as the tier's premier Normal-resist. Graveler can be difficult to switch into as Ground-resists are not very common at all and immunities are usually smacked by Double-Edge with the exception of Koffing, who has to fear Explosion. Speaking of Explosion, it's practically a free kill in this tier. The only Ghost-type available is Shuppet who is not very good at all and Normal-resists are smacked by Earthquake. The only one who isn't is Lileep, who doesn't even take it all that well. Graveler's main flaw however is that it's very slow and its quadruple weaknesses to Water and Grass can really hurt it if an opponent runs Hidden Power Water or Grass, which basically everyone does as letting in Graveler is not a wise move.

Gloom

Gloom @ Lum Berry
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
- Sunny Day

Gloom @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Substitute
- Moonlight
- Swords Dance

Gloom stands out due to its great versatility in defensive sets usually carrying Swords Dance as a wincon and Sunny Day allowing it to act as a dangerous setup sweeper in the tier. It has superb bulk and a nice matchup into many of the tier's Water-types like Wartortle and acts as a check for Aipom due to its Fighting-resistance, which also comes in handy against Meditite. Its access to Sleep Powder also ensures that even if Gloom doesn't sweep, it will have put a Pokemon out for possibly the entire game and gives it that opportunity to set up Sunny Day as well for cleaning. Simple mon, but still very good.

Quilava

Quilava @ Leftovers / Salac Berry / Petaya Berry / Charcoal
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Sunny Day / Toxic / Quick Attack
- Substitute

Another contender for being one of the best breakers, Quilava has loads of fire power ready to be unleashed into the tier. This is mainly due to its ability in Blaze that it uses in combination with Substitute to power up its Fire-type attacks by 1.5x, making even Fire-resists like Seaking tremble over its sheer power. Additionally, Quilava can carry a Salac or Petaya Berry to either give it the speed it needs to outspeed Pokemon like Staryu and Aipom or make its attacks hit even harder, especially if running Sunny Day as the 4th slot. Toxic can whittle down defensive checks like Porygon additionally.

A Rank

Flaaffy

Flaaffy @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs: 88 HP / 152 Def / 252 SpA / 16 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 3 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Fire Punch
- Thunder Wave

Flaaffy @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Fire Punch
- Heal Bell

Flaaffy stands out as a strong special attacker with it's Electric STAB being quite strong in the tier with many Water-types around to hit super effectively backed up with some pretty fine bulk and a nice ability in Static which can punish physical attackers such as Aipom and Ponyta for attacking it. Additionally, Flaaffy is one of two viable users of the move Heal Bell making it a great partner for Pokemon like Porygon. However, Flaaffy is quite slow at base 45 and while its not frail, its not super bulky either with not a lot of notable resistances to make us of to get in, usually coming in on more passive Pokemon like Wartortle.

Beedrill

Beedrill @ Salac Berry
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Def / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

Beedrill is one of the best cleaners the tier has to offer with some pretty impressive bulk to its name on the special side and also can find opportunities to setup on Pokemon locked into Fighting-type moves like Aipom and Meditite. Furthermore, it has a great boosting move in Swords Dance which when combined with Swarm, hits like an absolute truck. Most Poison-resists in the tier like Koffing also lose to Beedrill as they cannot break their Substitute and even Graveler really dislikes taking Hidden Power Bug once in Swarm range. Priority is usually the best way of dealing with Beedrill but even Ponyta's Quick Attack has a 31.3% chance to KO Beedrill when it has activated it's Salac Berry. The only flaw that it has is that it can be a bit difficult to actually set up late game as Pokemon like Doduo tend to stick around in order to pick off Salac sweepers.

Castform

Castform @ Leftovers / Lum Berry
Ability: Forecast
EVs: 152 HP / 244 Atk / 48 Def / 64 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge / Return
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Fire Blast
- Protect / Thunder Wave

Castform has above average stats for the tier with good stats in all areas. In addition, its movepool is quite wonderful with options such as Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Fire Blast at its disposal while additionally having a great offensive typing in Normal which as stated before is able to hit a vast amount of the tier for neutral damage. What makes Castform even better is its ability. Forecast makes Castform a great check to Sun and Rain teams giving offensive teams some backbone if they come face to face with them.

Porygon

Porygon @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Return / Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Toxic / Thunder Wave

Porygon is one of the tiers premier special walls along with Noctowl with great defensive stats and reliable recovery to top off the wonderful bulk. It's not that passive either with decent coverage in its movepool with Ice Beam and Thunderbolt while Toxic or Thunder Wave helps with stopping setup sweepers switching in. But there is one quite big flaw, and that's Porygon is quite vulnerable to status itself which limits its walling capabilities against Pokemon like Quilava.

Wartortle

Wartortle @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Toxic
- Protect / Seismic Toss / Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin

Wartortle @ Salac Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 HP / 12 Def / 252 SpA / 240 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Substitute
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Rain Dance

Wartortle due to its access to Rapid Spin allowing it to get rid of Spikes from Pineco is practically a necessity for slower paced team styles that otherwise are overwhelmed by them immensely otherwise. Additionally, Wartortle answers some of the most threatening Pokemon in the tier like Ponyta, Quilava, and Seaking while having the ability to go on the offense itself with Salac Berry Torrent sets. This is all great but defensive Wartortle does have one pretty major flaw. Passivity. Surf does good enough damage into a decent chunk of the tier but there are a good few Pokemon who can use it as setup fodder, such as Lombre, Gloom, and Beedrill which is not amazing for Wartortle.

Anorith

Anorith @ Salac Berry
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 104 SpD / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break
- Substitute

Anorith is another common cleaner you'll see in the tier. It's normal resistance can give it setup opportunities on many of the Choice Locked Normal-types the tier possesses and also Pokemon like Ponyta, although it must be said that Anorith even with the resistance doesn't take Normal attacks all too well. However, this does also mean it resists Quick Attack which is quite advantageous for when it is activated it's Salac Berry, as it doesn't care much about priority at all. Anorith also has a very high attack stat and also has Swords Dance as an option for a boosting move. However, this is let down by Anorith’s has two relatively weak STAB options in Rock Slide, which also has a chance to miss, and Hidden Power Bug, which can make it pale in comparison to Pokemon like Beedrill. Still, Anorith hits hard enough and has notable traits to set it apart from Beedrill and thus both can coexist in the tier.

A- Rank

Doduo

Doduo @ Choice Band
Ability: Early Bird
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Drill Peck
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Quick Attack

Doduo @ Silk Scarf / Leftovers
Ability: Early Bird
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Drill Peck / Quick Attack
- Substitute

Doduo is a sidegrade to Aipom as a Normal-type wallbreaker. It is considerably more stronger giving it better matchups into Lead Flaaffy and Wailmer with an additional STAB in Flying which can be handy for Gloom. Additionally, it has access to Quick Attack meaning Doduo has a way to shut down Salac sweepers whereas Aipom cannot. However, it is less bulky than Aipom making it OHKO'd by Pokemon like Ponyta while being much slower meaning Pokemon like Quilava outspeed it and it is revenged consistenly by Pokemon like Staryu and Aipom itself.

Noctowl

Noctowl @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 200 HP / 252 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Double-Edge
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Protect
- Rest

Noctowl @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 252 Atk / 128 Def / 128 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Reflect
- Hypnosis

Noctowl has amazing stats for the tier, with its special bulk standing out especially and decent stats everywhere else except it's Attack, which is still serviceable for the tier due to having a great STAB in Normal. Noctowl can be let down by it's movepool however, which is lacking a reliable recovery move meaning it is liable to be chipped down overtime or has to rely on Rest which is not a great idea in most cases. As a result, Noctowl really loves Heal Bell users like Flaaffy to be paired with it, but that can be hard to fit sometimes on more offensive teams due to it being a momentum sink. However even without it Noctowl still remains a good Pokemon with its sheer bulk making it a valuable asset into Weather based teams.

Koffing

Koffing @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Koffing @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Explosion
- Protect

Koffing is the best Graveler answer in the tier with Levitate also checking a few other dangerous threats like Meditite and Beedrill (but only if you are offensive since defensive variants can't break its Substitute). Koffing can spread Burn quite effectively as well with access to Will O Wisp and access to Pain Spilt means it stays healthy throughout a game to keep answering Graveler. Offensively, Koffing has access to boom so it's able to trade with just about everything it wants to really as long as it doesn't die first, which can be vital in breaking for cleaners in the back.

Pineco

Pineco @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Spikes
- Explosion

Pineco is the only viable Pokemon with access to Spikes giving it a niche as a spiker. It is able to make use of passive Pokemon like Noctowl and Porygon to get Spikes up on the opposing team and afterwards can threaten an Explosion which can heavily chunk answers such as Graveler or Wartortle coming in to spin on it. That's basically it for Pineco, quite one dimensional but Spikes are so great at pressuring and putting Pokemon into priority ranges that it's role is important nonetheless.

Staryu

Staryu @ Mystic Water
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 16 Def / 240 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rain Dance

Staryu is the fastest (viable) Water-type available with some nice attacking stats and perfect coverage for the tier in Thunderbolt for Pokemon like Seaking and Wartortle and Ice Beam for Gloom meaning Staryu is a great asset to have against offensive teams. Staryu can be a bit frail though only barely living Ponyta's Double Edge with 16 Defense EV's needed and against the tier's special walls in Porygon and Noctowl it can sometimes be a bit of a let down, although if Rain Dance is up, Staryu can 2HKO Porygon and do some great damage to Noctowl so it's not the worst problem overall. Either way, Staryu is just very solid in general and I believe it is overlooked at the moment.

Ariados

Ariados @ Leftovers
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 84 HP / 252 Atk / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Sludge Bomb
- Signal Beam

Ariados @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 104 HP / 184 Atk / 220 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power Grass
- Psychic
- Night Shade

Ariados @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 20 Spe
- Psychic
- Toxic
- Baton Pass
- Protect
(you know I had to include the fun Baton Pass pivot set sorry :P)

Ariados sets itself apart from Beedrill by having access to Signal Beam which allows Ariados to run a different Hidden Power, like Flying to hit Dustox, Beedrill and opposing Ariados while being a nice option into Gloom or Grass which can lure in Graveler. It also has access to Psychic which can be important for Pokemon like Koffing and Night Shade can hit Magnemite very hard due to its poor HP stat. It's main flaw over Beedrill is that it doesn't have access to Swords Dance and thus cannot boost it's attack. It is still quite a good pick in various situations however thanks to its immediate power.

Delibird

Delibird @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Ice Beam
- Quick Attack
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

Delibird @ Leftovers
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Aerial Ace
- Ice Beam

Delibird is quite similar to Doduo but has some traits over it that can be useful at times. For starters, Delibird has a better offensive typing with access to Ice-STAB which can be nice into Pokemon like Graveler and Lileep. Otherwise, Doduo is stronger even though it doesn't have the as high an Attack stat due to its surperior STAB moves, though Delibird does have some minor benefits like access to Focus Punch and Rapid Spin but Doduo is usually preferred. This doesn't mean Delibird is bad at all though since it still hits hard with Hustle, although that also comes with an accuracy drop which Delibird can usually ignore since Aerial Ace and Ice Beam aren't affected. Delibird and Doduo can work nicely together as well overcoming each others checks, so think of it as kinda a budget Doduo, but that's good because Doduo is also good.

Meditite

Meditite @ Choice Band
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant or Jolly Nature
- Brick Break
- Double-Edge
- Fake Out
- Hidden Power [Flying]

Meditite @ Salac Berry
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Reversal
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Bulk Up
- Substitute

Meditite hits incredibly hard with an Attack stat about equivalent to Breloom in OU just for comparison but unfortunately, it's the definition of a glass cannon with horrible defensive stats and it's relatively slow. It makes up for this by being very difficult to switch into and has priority in Fake Out to majorly chip an opposing Pokemon, but that may come with the drawback of giving the opposing team free turns. Reversal sets can also be somewhat scary if it gets to setup but if the opponent has priority than its more than likely to fail. But, if you want a really strong wallbreaker, than Meditite is probably the best you'll get in terms of raw strength.

B+ Rank

Wailmer

Wailmer @ Salac Berry
Ability: Water Veil
EVs: 124 Def / 208 SpA / 176 Spe
Rash Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute
- Self-Destruct

Wailmer has great lead matchups into a majority of leads such as Aipom, Cubone and Seaking with it usually being able to trade 2 for 1 due to it's Salac Berry and access to Self-Destruct, which all Normal-resists absolutely do not want to switch into Wailmer at all and are chunked significantly anyway. Substitute also allows it to stop Pokemon that might be able to stop it such as Tentacool and specially defensive Wartortle. That's about it, Wailmer is just a trading machine and that's why its here.

Onix

Onix @ Leftovers
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Atk / 12 Def / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
- Protect

Onix may seem inferior to Graveler at first glance but it's much higher speed at base 70 makes it better at checking Pokemon like Flaaffy while additionally checking Aipom. Furthermore, Onix's lower attack stat doesn't matter as much when the tier is a lot less bulky than what it used to be while Explosion near guarantee's trades now with Normal-resists never wanting to take Earthquake. This makes Onix quite a nice Pokemon but when compared to Graveler, it can struggle a lot more into more bulkier team styles. Still, never count Onix out as it's a Pokemon that can really get the jump on you if you underestimate it.

Volbeat

Volbeat (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Signal Beam
- Double-Edge
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Quick Attack / Baton Pass / Trick

Volbeat is fast outpacing Pokemon like Quilava and has a decent Attack stat allowing it to deal some respectable damage into opposing teams. It's access to priority is quite nice as well since it means that it can try and pick off faster Pokemon like Ponyta and also stop Salac sweepers like usual. Alternatively, Baton Pass makes it a rare offensive pivot which can be valuable when paired with Pokemon like Smoochum. It is also one of the only Pokemon with access to Trick which can be nice to cripple switchins like Koffing. Swarm is the cherry on top which makes Signal Beam much stronger when put in range, although this won't always happen in a game of course. Otherwise, Volbeat is pretty average but it's still a fine option to use in the tier.

Lombre

Lombre @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 160 HP / 252 SpA / 96 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Rain Dance

Lombre is a sidegrade to Rain Dance Seaking. All of it's stats are worse but it's Grass-typing gives it better matchups into Electric-types and Graveler while additionally giving it better matchups into opposing Water-types like Seaking and Wartortle. This does come with the trade off of being worse into Aipom and Choice Band Seaking which can be pretty relevant. However, Rain Dance Seaking and Lombre can be used together as well to form a potent offensive core as they overwhelm each others checks quite well and set up rain for each other.

Weepinbell

Weepinbell @ Lum Berry
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 176 HP / 252 SpA / 80 Spe
Rash Nature
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sludge Bomb
- Sunny Day

Weepinbell is pretty much always worse than Gloom. The only thing Weepinbell has over Gloom is a better Attack stat making it's Ponyta matchup better, but Gloom has better bulk meaning it has an easier time setting up a Sunny Day. However, the two are commonly used together on Sun to create a really strong offensive core to overwhelm their checks like Quilava, Ponyta, and Castform. That's basically it for Weepinbell but a strong Pokemon nonetheless.

Voltorb

Voltorb @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Static
EVs: 40 Atk / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Explosion
- Substitute

Voltorb is a great anti-offense Pokemon thanks to being the fastest Pokemon in the tier and having access to Explosion meaning Voltorb trades incredibly well with fast paced teams, usually being able to take a 2 to 1 trade in most interactions. Electric-STAB is rare and very appreciated when facing Water-types like Seaking as well. What makes Voltorb a bit more disappointing is that it can find it a bit more difficult into slower based teams due to its low fire power, but it can usually make off with a trade versus them too just because of Explosion. It also doesn't have amazing bulk to the point where priority from Doduo can do about 70% so be wary of that.

Drowzee

Drowzee @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss / Psychic
- Reflect / Toxic / Thunder Wave / Hypnosis
- Protect
- Wish

Drowzee has excellent special bulk and a decent movepool to accompany it with options such as Thunder Wave, Hypnosis and Reflect as well as Wish support for its teammates. Drowzee does still have problems with status like Porygon however, so it similarly appreciates Heal Bell support alongside it so Pokemon like SubToxic Quilava don't overwhelm it. Otherwise, its just generally decent as a special wall but nothing special and pretty simple all things considered.

Tentacool

Tentacool @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Toxic

Tentacool @ Leftovers
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 244 HP / 144 Atk / 120 Def
Jolly Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Surf
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

Tentacool is an alternative spinner to Wartortle which has higher special bulk and isn't as vulnerable to status thanks to it's additional Poison-type giving it an immunity to poison and a neutrality to Hidden Power Grass. This gives Tentacool a better matchup into Quilava and Rain Dance Seaking but it's lower physical bulk makes it a lot worse at dealing with Pokemon like Ponyta and Graveler, especially due to it's Ground weakness. Tentacool can also go on the offensive itself with Swords Dance which can be great as Poison-resists like Graveler do not ever want to take Surf but it is a bit weak due to a low Attack stat.

B Rank

Cubone

Cubone @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Double-Edge
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

Cubone is not a bad lead by any means. It's good into Seaking as it can live a Hydro Pump with this spread and Aipom can be EV'd to win if you wanted to. Furthermore, Flaaffy doesn't like facing it either so in terms of lead matchups its not that bad at all and its fairly good at trading. That's kinda it though, you won't see it outside of Lead as it's usually better to run Graveler as Cubone has little defensive utility, especially since it has to run Thick Club meaning no Leftovers recovery. But its respectable enough.

Elekid

Elekid @ Leftovers / No Item / Petaya Berry
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid or Hasty Nature
IVs: / 2 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA (run 30 HP IVS if you are running Petaya Berry)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Ice Punch / Fire Punch / Focus Punch
- Substitute / Thief

Elekid is okay. As said before with Voltorb, Electric-STAB is a bit rare and quite nice because there are quite a few Water-types around to hit super effectively. Elekid is pretty weak though, it's a bit better than Voltorb but it doesn't have Explosion which is what I think personally makes Voltorb better since it means Elekid can't trade nearly as well as Voltorb can, especially against bulkier teams. Still, it has some traits over it such as Ice Punch and Fire Punch meaning Elekid is able to run Hidden Power Grass to hit Graveler harder, it has Thief to cripple some walls like Porygon and take their Leftovers, and it has Focus Punch to attempt to break through Porygon that way. Otherwise, I think Explosion is better than all of that, but its really up to you, if you like Elekid more than you can easily swap its place with Voltorb.

Delcatty

Delcatty @ Leftovers
Ability: Cute Charm
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Body Slam
- Heal Bell
- Protect
- Wish

Delcatty is a rare user of Heal Bell which it only has competition with Flaaffy for which is by far its best trait. It also has Wish which is another rare trait which it only really shares with Drowzee as a special wall. Otherwise, Delcatty has a few flaws. It's bulk is just okay and not good enough to take on Pokemon like Quilava which can be an issue and means it needs support to function versus them. It's other flaw is that it's quite passive and lets in Pokemon like Graveler a lot which can be really dangerous. All of these flaws make Delcatty just okay, but when supported it can really shine. It just needs a lot of it.

Magnemite

Magnemite @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 60 SpA / 176 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Hidden Power [Water]
- Toxic / Thunder Wave
- Substitute

Magnemite has the very rare Steel-typing, which it only shares with Aron making it have a fair few solid resistances to types like Normal, Ice, and Psychic. The issue? Magnemite's stats. It's special attack at 95 is actually really good and it has a solid Defense stat, but its HP is absolutely horrible meaning it's not actually very good at taking on Pokemon like Aipom in the first place. Magnemite thrives off abusing passive Pokemon like Porygon, Gloom, and Noctowl using them to setup a Substitute so whatever comes in next has to take a nasty Thunderbolt or take Status. This is fine against slower teams but against offense this is really hard to pull off which makes Magnemite limited to coming in on Aipom after it has killed something, which isn't that bad but not amazing either.

Spoink

Spoink @ Leftovers / Salac Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe or 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Substitute
- Calm Mind

Spoink has a few really nice traits. For starters, the Psychic-type is virtually unresisted in the tier except for Pokemon like Magnemite and Aron, who can take it but don't have great special bulk and opposing Psychic-types, giving Spoink neutral damage on almost everything in the tier. Additionally, Spoink has Thick Fat meaning it can get in on Pokemon like Quilava and start setting up or attack. The main issue with Spoink however is that it is very slow and has pretty bad physical bulk while the tier's special walls in Noctowl and Porygon can shut it down relatively quickly. One of these issues can be relieved by using a Salac Berry, but it can be difficult for Spoink to start setting up in the first place and makes it limited in what it can come in on. However, Spoink can be really dangerous in the right conditions and thus it earns it spot here.

Smoochum

Smoochum (F) @ Leftovers / Salac Berry
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
- Calm Mind / Swagger
- Substitute
(SWAGGER ALERT! SWAGGER ALERT!)

Smoochum is similar to Spoink where it is really difficult to wall thanks to it's amazing STAB's in Ice and Psychic. These two typings leave Smoochum absolutely helpless defensively however and it's bulk is even worse than Spoinks meaning Smoochum is perhaps the hardest Pokemon to find entry with in the entire tier, especially when combined with its only average speed stat. When it is in however, it can be a real nuisance with Substitute and potentially Swagger to cheese its answers or Calm Mind to boost up and proc its Salac Berry to threaten a sweep if the opponent has no priority left.

Lileep

Lileep @ Leftovers
Ability: Suction Cups
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Toxic
- Recover

Lileep has a very rare trait of a Normal resist with reliable recovery which is unique in the tier, and it's got some nice stats and a fine enough typing so what's the problem? It's incredibly passive. The only real way it can threaten something is through Toxic or if its weak to either Rock or Grass, which most can just shrug off anyways. Furthermore, unlike the last meta Normal-types like Aipom are running stronger coverage for it like Focus Punch which really destroys Lileep and Doduo is a Pokemon who can straight up 2HKO it with Hidden Power Fighting which can be a bit rough for Lileep as it's not the iron clad wall it once was. It also has the common flaw of not liking status at all and it's harder to accommodate for that weakness in this meta. Still, it's got one really good trait that puts it above the rest of the Pokemon I'll be talking about from now on.

B- Rank

Clamperl

Clamperl @ Deep Sea Tooth
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute

Clamperl is the strongest special attacker in terms of pure power and even in the entire game. That sounds really good on paper but Clamperl has some really tough flaws. It's bulk is okay, able to take a hit if needed but specially, its bulk is really bad so its not going to be taking special hits very well, and its made worse by not being able to hold Leftovers due to Deep Sea Scale. This can limit how much Clamperl comes in especially when factoring in how slow it is at base 32 meaning even slow attackers like Graveler and Flaaffy can outspeed it. You would think it would do fine in a lead slot however since it's quite good at trading, but Wailmer just really does it better since it can run Salac Berry and not lose all its power and do a 2 to 1 trade in the right circumstances instead of a 1 to 1 trade. Because of all this, there's not really much reason to use Clamperl yet but it does still have that immense power to its name, so it's probably okay here?

Magby

Magby @ Charcoal / Petaya Berry / Salac Berry / No Item
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA
- Fire Blast
- Thunder Punch
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Substitute / Focus Punch / Thief

Magby is in a bit of a weird spot. It has Thunder Punch so Magby can run Hidden Power Water to hit opposing Fire-types and it is faster than Quilava so it can usually win that 1v1. It's not really got the sheer power than Quilava has and not the great speed that Ponyta and instead just has movepool advantages like the aforementioned Thunder Punch and Thief, which can really make it hard to justify but the traits are there, so probably some innovation to be had?

Croconaw

Croconaw @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Double Edge
- Surf
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

Croconaw has access to Swords Dance with a pretty high attack stat and nice typing which can give it setup opportunities on Pokemon like Wartortle and Quilava while additionally having a decent physical defense which lets it take on Pokemon like Ponyta fairly good. Most Normal-resists do not like taking Surf as well so it's typing synergises well with it's main attacking move Double Edge. It's pretty slow at base 58, although outspeeding Flaaffy can be pretty crucial at times. It does face competition from Seaking who does a similar role but Croconaw having access to Swords Dance can be relevant as Seaking usually has to lock into a move whereas Croconaw doesn't.

Masquerain

Masquerain @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Stun Spore
- Substitute

Masquerain is fine enough. Intimidate is a really good ability that should let it come in on quite a bit, and it can end up like that especially against Pokemon like Meditite and Aipom locked into Fighting-type moves, which it can then take advantage of by setting up a Substitute and spreading paralysis potentially. It's got a pretty decent special attack stat and Hydro Pump is a pretty high base power move which makes up for not having STAB. It's just overall okay, but niche.

Butterfree

Butterfree @ Leftovers
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Psychic
- Hidden Power Grass
- Morning Sun

Butterfree isn't seen much but it can do fine into any lead who is slower than it which gives it something. Otherwise? It's a quad fighting resist? I don't have much but its like better than a lot of the other stuff we are going to see since it at least has a pretty decent MU into a large majority of the lead metagame. What you think I had more? That's it, its walking Sleep Powder that prays you don't have a Lum Berry when Lum Berry is pretty common to deal with status on offensive teams.

Sunflora

Sunflora @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 20 Def / 252 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sunny Day
- Synthesis

Sunflora isn't bad by any means. It hits really hard on the special side and has relatively good bulk. It's just that this tier has quite a bit of competition when it comes to Chlorophyll users in Weepinbell and Gloom which can be a bit of a struggle for it, especially since Sunflora doesn't have access to Sleep Powder to potentially deal with them that way. This can make Sunflora a bit outclassed but not terrible. Unfortunately, it means it ends up here though.

Exeggcute

Exeggcute @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Psychic
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis

Exeggcute has some nice physical bulk to it and a decent typing letting it check Aipom and Meditite while countering Graveler. It even has Sleep Powder for Pokemon like Quilava trying to switch in. The main problem is that this is really similar to Gloom who is usually quite a bit better due to having some special bulk to it and a way to actually start threatening the opposing team in Swords Dance. Countering Graveler though can be valuable though so it does have its place in the metagame. Exeggcute can also run a Chlorophyll abuser set but it's not very strong so it usually just booms on something and its really difficult to fit.

Dustox

Dustox @ Leftovers
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Water] / Toxic
- Moonlight
- Whirlwind

Dustox has some nice special bulk to it allowing it to deal with Pokemon like Rain Dance Seaking and Lombre quite well and it's typing gives it resistances to both of Beedrill's STABS meaning it can act as an emergency check to them if needed. It also has reliable recovery meaning it will stay around in a game and Whirlwind allows it to phaze out scary setup sweepers and a Toxic immunity means it doesn't worry too much about status. It sounds perfect but Dustox has a few nasty flaws though, particularly that it's typing makes it really bad into the Fire-types of the tier which is kinda what you want a special wall to do in this tier.

C+ Rank

Horsea

Horsea @ Lum Berry / Mystic Water
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Grass

Horsea is in another weird spot. It's not bad at doing Swift Swim since it does hit slightly harder than Seaking but the competition for Swift Swim is a bit too much for it with Lombre and Seaking and this isn't like Sun teams since Rain usually consists of a core of two or one Swift Swim Pokemon who break for each other/has a Pokemon who runs Rain Dance to potentially set them up. Still, if full Rain gets popular than I can see this going up to like, the B tiers but for now its here.

Numel

Numel @ Leftovers
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Rest / Toxic
- Sleep Talk / Protect

Numel is a flawed Pokemon. It's best matchups are against Quilava, defensive Gloom variants, and Sunny Day Ponyta. Otherwise, Hidden Power Water is pretty common as it offers better coverage now usually than Hidden Power Grass due to Chinchou leaving the tier which in turn destroyed Numel's viability. In addition, it has to rely on RestTalk for recovery or Protect which means Numel really doesn't stay around very long at all and all it really has going for it are a few good matchups which makes it not the most terrible thing around.

Nosepass

Nosepass @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 196 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Explosion
- Thunder Wave

Nosepass is interesting. It's got Magnet Pull which means it can trap Magnemite if you really want to do that. It's typing is fairly decent at answering Pokemon like Ponyta and Quilava too while checking Aipom, and it has Explosion and Thunder Wave so it can threaten some pressure. But outside of those matchups, it's not really all that useful and is pretty weak so it's just really niche.

Shuppet

Shuppet @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp / Thunder Wave / Toxic

Shuppet has one matchup which stops it from being completely unviable. It stonewalls Aipom as the only Ghost-type in the tier. That is what it does and it can't do anything else due to absolutely horrible stats outside of its Attack. It can only try spinblock for you if you are running spikes which isn't really valuable and really niche. Only use it as an Aipom stonewall and consider whether it's worth it or not before you try it out. (it usually isn't)

Farfetch'd

Farfetch'd @ Salac Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flail
- Quick Attack / Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

Farfetch'd is a really big matchup fish. If it can find a setup opportunity and the opponents Graveler or Onix is not healthy or a priority user is not on the opposing team, it can sometimes sweep. It does have the option of priority itself to try and stop Pokemon like Doduo and Ponyta from hitting it first but otherwise these are some pretty big issues that make Farfetch'd really difficult to justify putting onto teams.

C Rank

Grimer

Grimer @ Leftovers
Ability: Sticky Hold
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Grimer tries its best but I really haven't seen it do anything yet. The tier's fire power has increased significantly and Grimer is a lot easier to break with Pokemon like Graveler around and Fire-types who do a lot to it on the special side. It's just a very hostile environment for Grimer who is very much a Pokemon who likes to break slower archetypes.

Dratini

Dratini @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave
- Rest

Dratini isn't really that bad, it has a good MU into Fire-types and Sun in general. Just really does not have the usage right now to be legit and outside of that its a bit trash and there are also other Pokemon rising up like Castform who gives Sun a run for its money. That's it for Dratini.

Larvitar

Larvitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Dragon Dance

Larvitar. It can try and use Aipom or any other Pokemon locked into a resisted move as a setup opportunity, which is fine but it's so slow that Ponyta is able to outspeed it at +1 so it really struggles to do anything.

Aron

Aron @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Protect

Aron. I talked them earlier a tiny bit with Aipom. That's what it mainly does, it's a quad Normal-resist and has some respectable physical bulk aqnd attack. The main problem is that it has a 4x Fighting-type weakness meaning if Aipom predicts right you are gonna be in for a world of hurt and it's not really amazing at taking advantage of Aipom like Magnemite can sometimes do so... it's here.

Parasect

Parasect
Ability: Effect Spore
...i don't know what I would run on this...

Uh so. Here is Parasect. It's here because it has potential to do something because it has good stats and a movepool. But I really have no idea to do with it. It's weak to so many things, Bug, Fire, Flying, Poison and those types are all pretty common. I suppose maybe use it as a Fighting answer/Aipom check? I don't know SOMEONE MAKE PARASECT WORK.

There we are, that is just about every viable Pokemon in the tier. There are few some players might of probably noticed I missed out in Bayleef and Rhyhorn and my explanation is I do not care about them as they probably have the heaviest competition out there for what they do in the tier so I'm just gonna leave them off. There is one last thing before the post ends and that is this reveal some teams that I have really enjoyed using thus far playing this tier. I hope you enjoy playing this tier as much as I have, it's really been a blast and i'm glad I was able to be part of it's growing process.

Teams


Voltorb HO


Swagger Smoochum Balance


Semi Rain HO


Sun


Onix Balance​

 

[plznostep]

State of ADV ZU
(srry for double post but no-one posts here anw >_<)
I think its no secret to those in the community right now that ADV ZU is in a bit of a poor state right now. There have been complaints about the metagame being very offensive in nature with little room for defensive playstyles. This is because of a few reasons I have spoke about before, but for a TLDR; there are a few strong offensive Pokémon that can restrict options defensive playstyles have, and I would like to talk about some commonly brought up culprits. I will also be including damage calculations to show how interactions play out and also to help you make your own judgement on whether you think these Pokémon are broken or not.

Culprits

Seaking
Seaking always creates a guessing game when they are used, as the tier's common Normal-resists in Graveler/Onix cannot take Hydro Pump at all while Lileep is hit by Megahorn. As a result, Seaking can spam Double-Edge and Megahorn pretty freely as Seaking only really needs to worry about Koffing and Noctowl when spamming Megahorn, both of which hate Seaking locking into either Double-Edge or Hydro Pump, and when locked into Double-Edge, it is only worrying about Koffing if that's at full and Graveler/Onix, which both hate Hydro Pump a lot.

This is made worse by the fact that even Gloom, a Pokémon commonly refered to as a Seaking answer, has a chance to be 2HKO'd by Choice Band Megahorn/Double Edge from full albeit low, but Gloom may not even always be at full and defensive Water-types can't do that much back to Seaking except trying to Toxic it, which not all Water-types like to run due to Gloom. While you can argue it is what Seaking is meant to do as a breaker, Seaking gets a lot of opportunities to do this as it's bulky and has a good defensive typing in Water allowing it to check the tier's Fire-types. Combined with how Seaking can be either physical or special making it even more difficult to determine what to do, and I think Seaking is potentially one of the big issues of why defensive teams don't work in this tier.

Relevant Calculations

Damage Calculations

Graveler
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Graveler: 74-88 (23.5 - 28%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Graveler: 150-177 (47.7 - 56.3%) -- 30.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Seaking Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Graveler: 686-808 (218.4 - 257.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Return vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Graveler: 63-75 (20 - 23.8%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

Koffing
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def 30 IVs Koffing: 127-150 (44.7 - 52.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def 30 IVs Koffing: 63-75 (22.1 - 26.4%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Seaking Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Koffing: 171-202 (60.2 - 71.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def 30 IVs Koffing: 108-128 (38 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Gloom
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Double-Edge vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Gloom: 153-181 (47.3 - 56%) -- 25.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Megahorn vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Gloom: 153-181 (47.3 - 56%) -- 25.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Seaking Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Gloom: 58-69 (17.9 - 21.3%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Return vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Gloom: 130-154 (40.2 - 47.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Wartortle
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Wartortle: 141-167 (43.7 - 51.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Wartortle: 141-167 (43.7 - 51.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Seaking Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Wartortle: 55-65 (17 - 20.1%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Wartortle: 120-142 (37.2 - 44%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Lileep
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Lileep: 72-85 (21.4 - 25.2%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Lileep: 289-340 (86 - 101.1%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
4 SpA Seaking Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Lileep: 102-121 (30.3 - 36%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Lileep: 61-72 (18.1 - 21.4%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery

Aipom
Aipom is commonly named as someone who is problematic in the tier and you can see some parallels with Seaking with how sometimes it can definitely be a guessing game between Double-Edge or Focus Punch, as Graveler/Onix have a chance to be OHKO'd after Focus Punch and everything else isn't really happy to take Double-Edge. It also has quite a nice speed tier and is only outsped by Ponyta, Elekid, and Voltorb, but is mostly notable to outspeed Anorith and Quilava from its competition in Doduo and also speed tieing base 85's can be notable, since it means you are harder to revenge, but inconsistent to use as an offensive tool against them.

However, what makes me lean towards Aipom being balanced is that it can really struggle to get in on teams that exert any offensive pressure whatsoever due to poor bulk and ADV ZU has no good ways of pivotting in meaning it is often forced to come in for revenge kills which can really limit the amount of times Aipom can actually click moves. If you think you can lead Aipom and take kills, this has been adapted to with most leads in the metagame running enough bulk to avoid being one shot by it as seen in Olympiad with Wailmer and Flaaffy leads. This makes me think Aipom leans in a more healthy breaker direction with it more punishing teams that are too passive.

Relevant Calculations

Damage Calculations

Graveler
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Graveler: 86-102 (27.3 - 32.4%) -- 64.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Graveler: 146-172 (46.4 - 54.7%) -- 10.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Focus Punch vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Graveler: 289-340 (92 - 108.2%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Return vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Graveler: 73-87 (23.2 - 27.7%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery

Lileep
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Lileep: 83-98 (24.7 - 29.1%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Lileep: 141-166 (41.9 - 49.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Focus Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Lileep: 278-328 (82.7 - 97.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Lileep: 71-84 (21.1 - 25%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery

Koffing
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def 30 IVs Koffing: 147-174 (51.7 - 61.2%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def 30 IVs Koffing: 30-36 (10.5 - 12.6%) -- possibly the worst move ever
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Focus Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def 30 IVs Koffing: 61-72 (21.4 - 25.3%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def 30 IVs Koffing: 125-148 (44 - 52.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Gloom
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Double-Edge vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Gloom: 176-208 (54.4 - 64.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Brick Break vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Gloom: 37-44 (11.4 - 13.6%) -- possibly the worst move ever
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Focus Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Gloom: 73-87 (22.6 - 26.9%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Aipom Return vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Gloom: 151-178 (46.7 - 55.1%) -- 13.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Shuppet
Common Aipom can't hit this but Shuppet sucks

Beedrill
Beedrill is slightly different because it's not a Pokemon who is immediately very threatening like the other two but after a Swords Dance, it becomes pretty difficult to deal with with the only hard stop available in the tier being Koffing with Flamethrower which can thankfully stay around due to Pain Split. Graveler/Onix can check it but a Swarm boosted Hidden Power Bug does a lot to both and neither has recovery meaning they get worn down by all the other Pokemon they are tasked with dealing with, like Ponyta. Magnemite is also a check to Beedrill, but it is another Pokemon who gets chipped down overtime meaning Beedrill can beat it if its not near full. Lastly, Ariados can check Beedrill and it does usually stay at full but if its not Hidden Power Flying, then Beedrill usually wins this interaction.

This can put a lot of strain on a defensive teams and also forces Koffing to run a worse move in Flamethrower meaning it usually is not able to fit Will-O-Wisp making it easier to switch into. Overall, I don't really think we lose much in getting rid of Beedrill as this tier has plentiful amounts of cleaners and it's also not healthy for how it limits defensive teams making Gloom, an otherwise pretty nice defensive mon, harder to justify as a Poison-type since it can't answer Beedrill like Koffing can and Beedrill can use it as setup fodder.

Relevant Calculations

Damage Calculations

Graveler
252+ Atk 30 IVs Beedrill Hidden Power Bug vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Graveler: 81-96 (25.7 - 30.5%) -- 3.6% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk 30 IVs Swarm Beedrill Hidden Power Bug vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Graveler: 120-142 (38.2 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk 30 IVs Swarm Beedrill Hidden Power Bug vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Graveler: 239-282 (76.1 - 89.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Koffing
+2 252+ Atk 30 IVs Swarm Beedrill Hidden Power Bug vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def 30 IVs Koffing: 101-119 (35.5 - 41.9%) -- 87.8% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Magnemite
252+ Atk 30 IVs Beedrill Hidden Power Bug vs. 252 HP / 20+ Def Magnemite: 53-63 (20.8 - 24.8%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk 30 IVs Swarm Beedrill Hidden Power Bug vs. 252 HP / 20+ Def Magnemite: 80-95 (31.4 - 37.4%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk 30 IVs Swarm Beedrill Hidden Power Bug vs. 252 HP / 20+ Def Magnemite: 160-189 (62.9 - 74.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Ariados
252+ Atk 30 IVs Beedrill Sludge Bomb vs. 84 HP / 0 Def Ariados: 78-92 (25.8 - 30.4%) -- 2.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk 30 IVs Beedrill Hidden Power Bug vs. 84 HP / 0 Def Ariados: 90-107 (29.8 - 35.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 252+ Atk 30 IVs Beedrill Sludge Bomb vs. 84 HP / 0 Def Ariados: 155-183 (51.3 - 60.5%) -- 92.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk 30 IVs Swarm Beedrill Hidden Power Bug vs. 84 HP / 0 Def Ariados: 181-213 (59.9 - 70.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Quilava
I am also worried about Quilava. Now it's a bit of theorymonning so I wouldn't ban Quilava now, but if the tier ever goes in a more fat based direction Quilava would be much more difficult to deal with. Quilava is balanced now because the tier is very offensive so Quilava can really struggle to get in and if it does get in, Ponyta is a relaible switch-in which checks Quilava super well. But if things were to get slower, Quilava really puts a lot of pressure on our defensive walls and Substitute + Toxic absolutely ruins Porygon and Water-types like Wartortle if they don't have Refresh. As a result, I would keep an eye on it for later.

Relevant Calculations

Damage Calculations

(Note: Quilava can run a lot of stuff like Charcoal or Petaya Berry so this may be very long)

Porygon
Sub + Toxic
252 SpA 30 IVs Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Porygon: 123-145 (36.8 - 43.4%) -- 99.5% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA 30 IVs Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Porygon: 183-216 (54.7 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA 30 IVs Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Porygon in Sun: 183-216 (54.7 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA 30 IVs Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Porygon in Sun: 273-322 (81.7 - 96.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Charcoal + Sunny Day
252 SpA 30 IVs Charcoal Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Porygon: 135-159 (40.4 - 47.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA 30 IVs Charcoal Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Porygon: 201-237 (60.1 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA 30 IVs Charcoal Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Porygon in Sun: 201-237 (60.1 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA 30 IVs Charcoal Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Porygon in Sun: 300-354 (89.8 - 105.9%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

Petaya Berry + Sunny Day
+1 252 SpA 30 IVs Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Porygon: 275-324 (82.3 - 97%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA 30 IVs Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Porygon in Sun: 411-484 (123 - 144.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Wartortle
Sub + Toxic
252 SpA 30 IVs Quilava Hidden Power Grass vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Wartortle: 134-158 (41.6 - 49%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA 30 IVs Quilava Hidden Power Grass vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Wartortle: 93-110 (28.8 - 34.1%) -- 99.1% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

Charcoal + Sunny Day
252 SpA 30 IVs Charcoal Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Wartortle: 140-165 (43.4 - 51.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA 30 IVs Charcoal Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Wartortle in Sun: 209-246 (64.9 - 76.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA 30 IVs Charcoal Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Wartortle: 96-114 (29.8 - 35.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA 30 IVs Charcoal Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Wartortle in Sun: 144-170 (44.7 - 52.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Petaya Berry + Sunny Day
+1 252 SpA 30 IVs Quilava Hidden Power Grass vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Wartortle: 200-236 (62.1 - 73.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA 30 IVs Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Wartortle: 191-225 (59.3 - 69.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 SpA 30 IVs Blaze Quilava Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Wartortle in Sun: 285-336 (88.5 - 104.3%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

Ponyta
Quilava Fire Blast vs. Flash Fire Ponyta: 0-0 (0 - 0%) -- possibly the worst move ever
252 SpA 30 IVs Quilava Hidden Power Grass vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Ponyta: 39-46 (16.1 - 19%) -- possible 8HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 Atk Quilava Hidden Power Ground vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Ponyta: 129-152 (53.5 - 63%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

My Thoughts:

Ban Beedrill

I think that Beedrill getting banned would be good to develop the tier. Beedrill has pretty limited answers and the only hard counter is Koffing. If it wasn't in the tier, Graveler/Onix would have a lot less pressure on them within the tier lategame and you wouldn't have to worry about locking into Fighting-type moves only to be swept by a Beedrill in the back. I would also heavily consider banning Seaking after this but Beedrill should go first to see how things turn out first, we aren't in a rush after all.

You could add Aipom and I wouldn't care all too much since Doduo will just step up and do Aipom's job, just a little bit worse. I said why I think Aipom is fine in my previous paragraphs but otherwise I wouldn't be too sad to see it gone. For Quilava, I think it could leave if this tier gets fatter but for now it is adequately checked by our Water-types and Ponyta.

Anyways, that's all my thoughts. I would love to hear what other people think about this and if you think I've left anyone out that could be problematic to the tier, I would love to hear what you think either on here or in the ADV ZU discord.​