w7 team recap for the two people still following this thread, and for posterity!
triangles vs Johnald:
triangles loaded
an old Clat team from CI6, as Kollin helpfully pointed out. Hera should have won, independent of the other mons on the team, simply because Johnald completely ignored it. That is to say, while I have criticisms of the team and it lost here, it is not because the offense fizzled out or because there isn't a competent philosophy behind the team. Suit Tar supports Hera, Breloom, and Mix Mence, who all appreciate Gar dead or low. Tar and Mence overlap on Pert for Agility Metagross; all of the team overlaps on opposing Zapdos in support of one another; and there are a number of ways to overload or deal with opposing Salamence. The team makes up for several physical weaknesses with Loom's Spore and (Black Belt boosted) Mach Punch, Tyranitar's Pursuit (for Dug) and Ice Beam (for Mence), Mence's Intimidate, and Zap's TW. Endill and Clat were saying in the chat that triangles might have won had he preserved Breloom, for the record. I'm more interested in how Salamence was sacrificed to eat a TW from Blissey, how Zap was difficult to switch into, and how Quagsire couldn't be overloaded. You don't expect to face Dol+defensive Pert/Quag, so that's fair, for sure, but I feel like it was pretty consistently coming down to whether Heracross could land its moves at the right moment, unless triangles traded Metagross with Zapdos. In any case, switching into Zap was rough after Tar was traded for Claydol, which doesn't really help Heracross or Zapdos (see Blissey behind) so much and barely does anything for Agility Metagross (again, because of the 2x checks that go unscathed by Tar). It does help Mence, because Dol has Ice Beam, but that's not really enough to break through. This is all probably a testament to Johnald bringing offbeat fare and having an extra wall somewhere it isn't expected to be, but my main concerns are that this team doesn't want to switch into TW Blissey, Zapdos, or Metagross, and I'm concerned about its solidity, but I can definitely understand why something like this was brought into Johnald, who has a Claydol stall addiction and a penchat for coming soft into Heracross. I can see a world where this landed the mu against Dugtrio and Loom+Tar were able to trap Dug and overwhelm the core for extremely good value. After all, Heracross was an excellent bring. But the RNG gods decided it was not to be.
Johnald. What the fuck is this? The Armaldo should be Knock Off (incompatible with Rapid Spin), and the Tyranitar seems to be physically invested. So I wonder what the coverage is on Claydol. If it's dropped Psychic, the Gengar disrespect is unreal. I'm guessing he's dropped boom, since he's got Maldo and Tar for Lax and Quag and Zap for Cune. He said he ignored Heracross (obviously), and the lack of speed control is felt here. I also feel like other threats have a solid chance against this team with the right support (Brick Mence, Agility Meta, etc.), and I hate phasers without Spikes and prefer using boom and pressure to deal with mons that need to be phased instead. Despite all this, I'm almost convinced by this squad. Quagsire eats (End) Pert for breakfast and Maldo+Tar+Dol probably do enough to hold back Jirachi. There's redundancy in Bliss/Lax/Celebi checking, in DD Tar checking, in Aero checking, in special breaker checking, and in Cune checking. The team is pretty safe in a lot of ways, and the use of Aroma Bliss is an obvious one. TW is good for Skarm, but I wonder if there isn't something more ambitious to be done here. Maybe Wish? Maybe Toxic to put Tar and other threats on a timer? Conceptually rich concept, and a proof of BL theory. I like it.
Kollin vs Fruhdazi:
Kollin brought a SpD Jira>Bliss version of 'beerlover' with Dbond Gar and HP Grass Tar, which I'm assuming was Pursuit. Can't be sure it isn't some other Mix Tar, but it's a nice touch to help against Off Pert. I think Fruhdazi is paying a tax for loading Steel and Lax offenses and is facing more Gar because of it. Rest in peace to Agility Pass Zapdos, the single best WoW absorber offense ever loved. Wish Tect Jira has the Aero match-up (another Fruh favorite) and is well-supported by Rapid Spin -- he's using Off Star here, no? It's worth mentioning (fast?) Starmie use ticking up, likely in response to the wave of End Pert. It's minimalistic offensively, but if I had to point to anything Jirachi does better than Blissey outside of handling physical attackers, it's probably the compression of Wish, bolstering the team against Pert and physical attackers; of Toxic, which pressures opposing Blissey and pressures Tyranitar for good measure; and of Fire Punch, which pressures Skarmory well in support of (an offensive Starmie's?) Rapid Spin. Smart. I'm wondering why Kollin didn't load his first love Off Gon>Pert this week. In any case, it's nice to see someone doing something different in their own style on the biggest stage. ADV is stacked right now.
Fruhdazi brought a standard Fruhdazi comp. Is this something?:
I've used it at some point, but I strongly prefer Brick Break generally. Makes sense to use Slide to cover the birds that trouble AeroDug and the grounded pieces and to use Dug to handle Blissey and the grounded steels. I don't really understand the comp, but I'd like to highlight the trend of Registeel on AeroDug and say that this style is growing on me. It's just a bit difficult to handle the Pert weakness without switch-ins and pressure, in my mind. I don't see how Machamp helps with that, or what the synergy is with Dugtrio. On a related note, one mole is a beauty mark, but three could be a sign you need to visit a dermatologist. I'm saying Dugtrio is cancer.
Blaise vs Zinc:
Blaise brought a Cune virgin comp with Dusclops. Clops kinda showed out, but maybe it could have been played more precisely. I wonder if the last move was Mean Look or Curse. I see this as part of a larger trend of non-Gar ghosts seeing high-level play in Advance pioneered by ABR. Everyone knows what this team does, so I also won't say much here.
Zinc brought U6 -- the unemployed 6,
an ABR comp used in CI5 finals -- with what are probably accurate techs. Perish Song is the only non-Skarm phazing you're going to find on this comp outside of a potential Roar Mence. Thief Skarm does wonders for Starmie+Metagross. Wish Mence keeps an otherwise type-frail comp ultra solid. With all the Natural Cure users and two (Skarm-weak, ish) Toxic immunes, Blissey should forego Aromatherapy and TW for a set that is more active against Skarmory. CM makes the most sense to keep Suicune out of your face. Nothing new here, but a solid pick.
M Dragon vs mielke:
Protect Suit Tar on a SkarmDug defense is reminiscent of the comp
McMeghan loaded into Baddummy in the SPL XVI finals tiebreaker. There's also also a Bolt Beam Blissey and a Surf/Beam/Tect Pert. I hate dropping EQ from non-Mono Pert and I prefer to run CM>Toxic on Blissey, but one of these mons needs to be able to force CM Blissey out, since the rest of the team is troubled by it. Unless the plan is to 1v1 in a CM Bliss war and use Dugtrio to make up the difference against opposing Bliss checks and Suit Tar+Skarm to make short work of opposing Spikes control? I love the combination of Pursuit Tar and CM(?) Blissey, for what it's worth. Having a meat shield to throw into Gengar to avoid Bliss getting boomed is huge, and having extra Spikes support is very welcome. I think it's pretty much the optimal Tar+CM Bliss set up -- especially in how it better enables Rapid Spin against the Ghosts that typically harangue Starmie. Dugtrio solves the typical problems of big 4 and offers physical presence. It might allow Pert to drop EQ, as mentioned before, if you're the type to like that kind of synergy. The speed control Dugtrio offers is legit, and Skarm/Bliss/Pert will always be the premier defensive core in the tier. Ditto what I said for Starmie in the current meta under Kollin. It's just been struggling a bit recently, and I love to see M Dragon bring tried and true back with a serious try like this, defensive overlap and all.
I liked mielke's bring, too. Wish Bliss supports the whole team quite well. I've had mixed feelings about phys Tar on Superman comps. I'll first say that the only relevant distinction in my mind between any random Flygon comp and 'Superman' is whether there are two other floaters, since I feel the major advantage gained by Flygon on comps where it isn't being used largely offensively is the Spikes immunity. Forgive me, boomers, for I have sinned, but I think this is comp qualifies. What Tar does for these comps is what it always does: it brings Sand, it squares off with Dol/Starmie, and it adds a normal resist, which supports Flygon against Aerodactyl. This makes sense when dropping Jirachi for Blissey. Bringing Wish gives back to Tar, and the fact that it heals under Sand is nice. My concerns, however, are that it tends to want Spin and brings Sand against its own Zap and Bliss, and Pursuit Tar prevents Taunt IP Gar 6-0'ing. I think Sleep Talk Zap fares better with Sand. That all being said, HP Grass on Zap synergizes quite well here and keeps opponents honest. The player needn't reveal Tar early, and Wish keeps everything together. Tidy comp.
Jabba vs Endill:
I don't understand Cloy+Bliss, especially not when Cloy is being used without Dol as a second spinner. Sandless makes sense, though, especially if you can find room to fit Wish here. I also don't know what to make of this Blissey set. TW makes sense to outspeed opposing Tar for HP Grass to make progress, and I guess it's a nice bring into Registeel and End Pert meta. It's also nice for pressuring Skarmory extra hard on a comp that features what would be an otherwise overloaded Cloy. This team is stupidly Gengar weak, though, and Bliss is very duggable. As the only special check, it's also overtasked, and the set doesn't patch the Cune weakness. Toxic Zapdos also feels annoying. Rest Zap will be difficult to KO without landing Explosion, but teams can and sometimes do have multiple ways of keeping Zap safe from Metagross and Gengar. It's ambitious, and maybe there's a team in here somewhere, but I can't place my finger on what the aim of the concept was here.
Team of the week for me. It looks like a riff on
an ABR comp. This one is maybe a bit more difficult to load into Dugtrio stall or Snorlax, and of course, it's lacking physical presence. But It's a curious build with its upsides. Jirachi makes the Aero match-up solid, which a lot of these Cune Spikes comps are worse against. Raikou helps against opposing special attackers. With Wish and Aroma, it could be Rest or Sub/Roar/Toxic. I love Wish+Aroma with Forre, too, and with all of the tools against Gengar, this is well-made, and Raikou's speed tier should come in handy against +1 Pert and Tar, but the DD Tar match-up is quite scary. This is a really good team, though, and I hope to see more people testing stuff out in this space. I've been sleeping on Raikou, but there's something seriously dangerous about Bolt Grass coverage, particularly when Tyranitar is lured by the likes of Tox Jira (or TW Blissey). Not much to say here, tbh, since I still haven't fully digested the comp, and I don't have much to add, but I'm impressed.
The teams:
