https://pokepast.es/fea738831a609237
MACONHA FESTA
IDEA:
The team's main idea was to use High Octane Breaker + P2 in a pivot-style type of team. Using P2's chain switch principle to give a high power breaker more chances to attack. I ended up following w classic CB Medi as it is the most high power breaker in the tier and had natural synergies with P2, exploiting the common P2 switchins (Tar, Lax, Bliss, Cele, Mie) and also appreciating P2's ability to shutdown Mence and answer Fliers in a pinch
P2'S CHAIN SWITCH PRINCIPLE:
This is the principle of many pivot based offenses. The chain switch principle is using a defensive mon to shut down something and then immediately double switching to get a big powered threat in, being seen mostly in the form of BP Zapdos in Spikeless historically. Said principle is P2's main secret weapon, its ability to shutdown Mence completely and promote passive answers or slower breakers makes room for easy chains of double switchin. The reverse also occurs as the Fighter can be positioned in a way that its allowed to stay in on its counter to handle the incoming double switchin to disrupt P2"s chain, allowing the fighter to clock in a big kill it otherwise wouldn't do. But what makes P2 so special besides that? Can't Zap and Blissey do the same things? Of course this is where P2's main known weapon is established, which is its ability to counter trap Dugtrio, making room for the frailer breakers vs Stall and its Aero and Mence checking abilities meaning you can get away w frailer backbones physically unlike Bliss or Zapdos
WHAT MAKES P2 TEAMS DIFFICULT TO BUILD?
This is actually a question most people dont really know to answer properly. The reason lies in on how P2 styles are often constructed as the way P2 operates favors a pivot style (think of BP zapdos offenses, cm pass, blissey+fighters or even classico and maybe skarm beatdown to some extent) unlike a flow style (think of Slop, jolt teams, smeargle to a extent). However, most pivot mons serve more flexible and general roles like how Zap and Blissey are catch-all's defensively, being able to check Mence, Zap, Firebirds and Offwaters. P2's function is ultraspecific meaning it is harder to slot due to being a pivot that does not have a "catch all" nature. This means P2 teams become defensively flawed as they do not have enough ability to handle phys mons (Meta, Lax, Ttar) or CMers (Cele, Rachi, Kou), this also is emphasized due to the fact many P2 teams absolutely want Celebi for the ground resist + special check, however Cele is a much worse "catch all" pivot than Zap/Bliss and Zap/Bliss dont synergize well w P2. It is often that Cele wants another "catch all" pivot to boost up the team's defensive capabilities in the special side, this + the spikes weakness that comes from P2's passivity usually means P2 teams struggle to fit levitators on a team due to not being high powered enough (thus not taking advantage of P2's ultraspecific pivot function) or making the team gimped defensively. That paired with the fact P2 wants stallbreakers to really drive home the ability to fuck over Dug Stall, which is the main reason to run P2 for a tour, makes it incredibely difficult to actually build a P2 team
WHAT MAKES MACONHA FESTA SPECIAL?
Maconha festa decided that fuck spinners. One of the main reasons that its hard to build P2 is due to the fact you want a spinner to cover the spikes weakness, however spinners are also ultraspecific and thus there isnt enough upside being taken from them. Instead I decided to rely more on momentum than the usual P2 team, taking a page out of Astamatitos's book and using something akin to his CB Medi / P2 / Cele / DefPert / Jirachi / Aero team. Its evident some of the synergies, Cele was able to BP out to Medi who took advantage of Tar/Bliss/Cele coming in, DefPert was able to hold up play physically and Wish CM Elec Grass Jira took advantage of Medi's ability to lure fliers and abuse tanks while also trading with said tanks, easing up for Aero cleans in the process. My problem is that this was still too spikes weak and Spikeless Aero didnt have enough ham to really clean up, while its role defensively (CMer check, fighter revenge killer, special mon revenge killer) was appreciated, it still fell short when it came to Stall MUs. I do believe this 6 could be revamped and made even better but as it stands I didnt think it provided enough upside and I decided to take a shot at something else while using some ideas here (CM Rachi that trades w tanks, TW+HP Fire P2 to trade and lure Metagross)
HOW MACONHA FESTA WAS STRUCTURED:
I had the idea that to ease up Stall MUs and not being overly reliant on Medi for breaking like Asta's team, the best course of action would be to add a second fighter. I immediately went to Machamp as it would help vs Gar w Guts+HPGhost and vs Ttar with its natural bulk and typing, while also being excellent vs Stall and more classic TSS (another struggle of P2 teams). Then I needed to add Celebi, however I felt that it might be best to go a more offensive route and rely on offense to trade up and use P2 as a pivot instead of going a more passive route with Recover Cele as the extra pivot. This way, to add pressing into opp Cele, extra speed to finish off crippled fliers and a possible late game wincon vs Offense, I added Timid Super Cele, which was still able to check specials a bit and helped at damaging Metagross, which this team needed to have as a compound effort since there is no Water type or Zard/Molt. It is in my belief that every ADV team needs a tox immune and that this tox immune should be a steel type about 99% of the time (Meta/Rachi/Registeel/Forre/Skarm), otherwise your team will suffer vs much of the passive dmg that flies around. In the case of Spikeless, its Meta or Registeel usually or Rachi with Meta/Regirock on Offense and with BlissCune on more niche balances. That said, I decided to break this rule as P2 teams need a good abuser for when Dug is gone and a buffer into Stall, at first I was decided into a bulky SuperJira that was able to trade with tanks and helped on the special side, however the team was undeniably too weak into Meta even with stuff like Fire P2 and what have you so I decided to cook and run CM+Reflect Jirachi to ease up the weakness to tanks (while also allowing Jira to better 1v1 Snorlax). I decided the coverage like Asta and came to the conclusion Elec+Grass was best to beat up Tanks as efficiently as possible with Thunder to 1v1 non TW Blissey. As all mons were able to excellently overwhelm fliers and Champ+Cele for Gar insurance, while also having Double Fighter, TW Fire P2 and SuperCele to really hammer down Skarm, I needed something that was able to handle both Ttar and CMers in a pinch while also being able to clean up if so desired. CB Gon fits this description perfectly, giving myself a cleaner a la Aero in the Asta build, a CMer check and a help vs Ttar while also abusing the flier overwhelm aspect of this build (and a neat thing at how well this team lures Dol). It also loved P2's ability to softcheck Aero, Meta w TW+HP Fire and able to completely shutdown Mence which was Gon's biggest threat vs. This team is able to hang from a defensive standpoint due to how well everything trades vs tanks and fliers with a few "reset" buttons in the forms of pivots like Reflect Jira and P2.
CONCLUSION
MACONHA FESTA is a surprisingly good and unique team, it isnt without its flaws, mainly the fact that it is overreliant on P2's defensive abilities (cant be avoided due to P2 teams explanation) and its somewhat sketchy way to handle threats (relies a lot on softchecking and luring rather than traditional walling methods unlike most pivot style balances or offenses) and the fact Spikes can still be trouble due to the frailty of the defensive pieces. With that in mind, its able to consistently win in most MUs and has very great synergy off the bat, giving chances to outplay every MU. I personally give this a 7/10, its solid but not the best, considering P2's flaws and stuff, its probably my best P2 team to date and one I would bring to Tour in a heartbeat
FEW UNDERSTAND. EVEN FEWER WILL APPLY THIS KNOWLEDGE.
MACONHA FESTA
IDEA:
The team's main idea was to use High Octane Breaker + P2 in a pivot-style type of team. Using P2's chain switch principle to give a high power breaker more chances to attack. I ended up following w classic CB Medi as it is the most high power breaker in the tier and had natural synergies with P2, exploiting the common P2 switchins (Tar, Lax, Bliss, Cele, Mie) and also appreciating P2's ability to shutdown Mence and answer Fliers in a pinch
P2'S CHAIN SWITCH PRINCIPLE:
This is the principle of many pivot based offenses. The chain switch principle is using a defensive mon to shut down something and then immediately double switching to get a big powered threat in, being seen mostly in the form of BP Zapdos in Spikeless historically. Said principle is P2's main secret weapon, its ability to shutdown Mence completely and promote passive answers or slower breakers makes room for easy chains of double switchin. The reverse also occurs as the Fighter can be positioned in a way that its allowed to stay in on its counter to handle the incoming double switchin to disrupt P2"s chain, allowing the fighter to clock in a big kill it otherwise wouldn't do. But what makes P2 so special besides that? Can't Zap and Blissey do the same things? Of course this is where P2's main known weapon is established, which is its ability to counter trap Dugtrio, making room for the frailer breakers vs Stall and its Aero and Mence checking abilities meaning you can get away w frailer backbones physically unlike Bliss or Zapdos
WHAT MAKES P2 TEAMS DIFFICULT TO BUILD?
This is actually a question most people dont really know to answer properly. The reason lies in on how P2 styles are often constructed as the way P2 operates favors a pivot style (think of BP zapdos offenses, cm pass, blissey+fighters or even classico and maybe skarm beatdown to some extent) unlike a flow style (think of Slop, jolt teams, smeargle to a extent). However, most pivot mons serve more flexible and general roles like how Zap and Blissey are catch-all's defensively, being able to check Mence, Zap, Firebirds and Offwaters. P2's function is ultraspecific meaning it is harder to slot due to being a pivot that does not have a "catch all" nature. This means P2 teams become defensively flawed as they do not have enough ability to handle phys mons (Meta, Lax, Ttar) or CMers (Cele, Rachi, Kou), this also is emphasized due to the fact many P2 teams absolutely want Celebi for the ground resist + special check, however Cele is a much worse "catch all" pivot than Zap/Bliss and Zap/Bliss dont synergize well w P2. It is often that Cele wants another "catch all" pivot to boost up the team's defensive capabilities in the special side, this + the spikes weakness that comes from P2's passivity usually means P2 teams struggle to fit levitators on a team due to not being high powered enough (thus not taking advantage of P2's ultraspecific pivot function) or making the team gimped defensively. That paired with the fact P2 wants stallbreakers to really drive home the ability to fuck over Dug Stall, which is the main reason to run P2 for a tour, makes it incredibely difficult to actually build a P2 team
WHAT MAKES MACONHA FESTA SPECIAL?
Maconha festa decided that fuck spinners. One of the main reasons that its hard to build P2 is due to the fact you want a spinner to cover the spikes weakness, however spinners are also ultraspecific and thus there isnt enough upside being taken from them. Instead I decided to rely more on momentum than the usual P2 team, taking a page out of Astamatitos's book and using something akin to his CB Medi / P2 / Cele / DefPert / Jirachi / Aero team. Its evident some of the synergies, Cele was able to BP out to Medi who took advantage of Tar/Bliss/Cele coming in, DefPert was able to hold up play physically and Wish CM Elec Grass Jira took advantage of Medi's ability to lure fliers and abuse tanks while also trading with said tanks, easing up for Aero cleans in the process. My problem is that this was still too spikes weak and Spikeless Aero didnt have enough ham to really clean up, while its role defensively (CMer check, fighter revenge killer, special mon revenge killer) was appreciated, it still fell short when it came to Stall MUs. I do believe this 6 could be revamped and made even better but as it stands I didnt think it provided enough upside and I decided to take a shot at something else while using some ideas here (CM Rachi that trades w tanks, TW+HP Fire P2 to trade and lure Metagross)
HOW MACONHA FESTA WAS STRUCTURED:
I had the idea that to ease up Stall MUs and not being overly reliant on Medi for breaking like Asta's team, the best course of action would be to add a second fighter. I immediately went to Machamp as it would help vs Gar w Guts+HPGhost and vs Ttar with its natural bulk and typing, while also being excellent vs Stall and more classic TSS (another struggle of P2 teams). Then I needed to add Celebi, however I felt that it might be best to go a more offensive route and rely on offense to trade up and use P2 as a pivot instead of going a more passive route with Recover Cele as the extra pivot. This way, to add pressing into opp Cele, extra speed to finish off crippled fliers and a possible late game wincon vs Offense, I added Timid Super Cele, which was still able to check specials a bit and helped at damaging Metagross, which this team needed to have as a compound effort since there is no Water type or Zard/Molt. It is in my belief that every ADV team needs a tox immune and that this tox immune should be a steel type about 99% of the time (Meta/Rachi/Registeel/Forre/Skarm), otherwise your team will suffer vs much of the passive dmg that flies around. In the case of Spikeless, its Meta or Registeel usually or Rachi with Meta/Regirock on Offense and with BlissCune on more niche balances. That said, I decided to break this rule as P2 teams need a good abuser for when Dug is gone and a buffer into Stall, at first I was decided into a bulky SuperJira that was able to trade with tanks and helped on the special side, however the team was undeniably too weak into Meta even with stuff like Fire P2 and what have you so I decided to cook and run CM+Reflect Jirachi to ease up the weakness to tanks (while also allowing Jira to better 1v1 Snorlax). I decided the coverage like Asta and came to the conclusion Elec+Grass was best to beat up Tanks as efficiently as possible with Thunder to 1v1 non TW Blissey. As all mons were able to excellently overwhelm fliers and Champ+Cele for Gar insurance, while also having Double Fighter, TW Fire P2 and SuperCele to really hammer down Skarm, I needed something that was able to handle both Ttar and CMers in a pinch while also being able to clean up if so desired. CB Gon fits this description perfectly, giving myself a cleaner a la Aero in the Asta build, a CMer check and a help vs Ttar while also abusing the flier overwhelm aspect of this build (and a neat thing at how well this team lures Dol). It also loved P2's ability to softcheck Aero, Meta w TW+HP Fire and able to completely shutdown Mence which was Gon's biggest threat vs. This team is able to hang from a defensive standpoint due to how well everything trades vs tanks and fliers with a few "reset" buttons in the forms of pivots like Reflect Jira and P2.
CONCLUSION
MACONHA FESTA is a surprisingly good and unique team, it isnt without its flaws, mainly the fact that it is overreliant on P2's defensive abilities (cant be avoided due to P2 teams explanation) and its somewhat sketchy way to handle threats (relies a lot on softchecking and luring rather than traditional walling methods unlike most pivot style balances or offenses) and the fact Spikes can still be trouble due to the frailty of the defensive pieces. With that in mind, its able to consistently win in most MUs and has very great synergy off the bat, giving chances to outplay every MU. I personally give this a 7/10, its solid but not the best, considering P2's flaws and stuff, its probably my best P2 team to date and one I would bring to Tour in a heartbeat
FEW UNDERSTAND. EVEN FEWER WILL APPLY THIS KNOWLEDGE.
