w8 in, earlier than expected, which is nice. First, I'd like to thank my seniors for sharing their important insights on the evolution of the tier, with history and theory to boot. Big shout out to Mess and Vapicuno for that, and it's great to see that more of the community is getting involved. I love to see it.
mielke vs Jabba:
mielke brought a fairly standard SkarmMag comp, with Celebi in the flex slot. He brought two special checks and speed control, but it wasn't enough for Jabba's CM spam Dugtrio offense. Since we all should be familiar with this kind of SkarmMag comp, I'll just say I see the main upside between this and ABR's Aero version are that Mence is better at handling mono Cune and fighters, but it's worse at breaking through Zapdos and revenge killing faster mons. I suppose Intimidate and the fighting-resistance also adds some backbone against BKC Tar, but Mence has more difficulty spamming attacks than Aero and wants more clerical support (Wish, weather clear, etc.), which are found on this 6, but in theory, it is better at breaking for itself with the correct clicks. It's a solid comp, for sure, and probably a good pick against Jabba, who has loaded Spikeless a few times this season. I don't know if there are nuances here that I'm missing, but I would like to highlight that the lack of non-Skarm phasing made it difficult to play against Jirachi. Pert is a good choice with Tyranitar next to it (to handle Jirachi), and Celebi can use Perish Song or Leech Seed. It just feels like the matchup was always going to be tough, since Skarmory, Swampert, and the CB floater are almost deadweight defensively in this matchup, and losing a grounded special wall to Dugtrio had him in a pickle.
I used to hate these teams because they can't switch into Blissey, but why would they have to? I'm thinking the Raikou might have Toxic. With two Toxic-using electric types -- one to lure Tyranitar into a Dugtrio trap, and a second to harass Blissey -- and two Sub CM sweepers, this team sells out on pivoting for all of the momentum you could want. This is a very impressive concept. Obviously, something like Snorlax+Claydol will be annoying for this team, but even in that matchup there is compensation with special attackers using super effective coverage. We've seen different versions of Dugtrio Claydol special offense in recent years, but this is the first time I recall Raikou being slotted here. It's an old idea with a new twist, and I love it.
Endill vs triangles:
Endill loaded a modified version of
a comp ABR previously loaded into triangles. triangles lost to the same last mon setup, funnily enough. The team uses 3 Gengar lures in Starmie, Regirock, and Snorlax to set up a last-mon Regirock scenario. Snorlax and Zapdos also lure opposing Tyranitar, and the whole team pressures opposing Celebi to give Snorlax an easier time. I previously compared the Jester and ABR build that Fruh brought into Blaise to a strictly better 'fighter' balance, and I have to see this team as another in the same lineage. This team has a lot of defensive redundancy built into it, too. Maybe the only meta trend I can see being annoying for it is the uptick in Dusclops usage? Anyway, I don't love Starmie by itself trying to Spin against Ghosts, but I think a team that plays to overload Gengar can probably set the conditions to Spin more easily. Skarmory by itself is manageable with all of the mons that can shrug off Toxic here or recover under Sand. I wonder if the Zap here is using Rest, too. Zapdos brings the ultimate pressure into Skarmory for this kind of build, but by the nature of it being stuffed by opposing Blissey now that Zap Pass has been nerfed, it might be time to pivot more in the direction of Rest on offensive Zap as Ojama did in the past? In any case, this comp is serious and shows a lot of ideas. I wonder whether Endill saw what ABR saw when he chose to bring this into triangles.
triangles loaded the same as M Dragon last week, but with set tweaks. I love Brick Break on Suit Tar here for its ability to trade at lead with opposing Tar. Being able to play it like a Mix Tar is a strong value add, especially with a neutral Attack nature (which I think it is using here). Roar Pert is also a choice I like, since non-Skarm phasing makes the match-up against bulky set up easier. Loved the 2010 WC nicks, too.
M Dragon vs robjr:
Looks like Mence+Dug is topical, but M Dragon didn't bring Fire Blast on his. It may have helped in this game. I think M Dragon went fishing here with houdini and expected robjr to preserve his water. By catching one of Zap, Skarm, or even the rare Pert, M Dragon should find himself in a strong position. Instead, robjr chose to lean on Skarmory+Blissey to check Mence. It's unfortunate how things played out for him, but this is bo1 risk-taking against an opponent with no recent tendencies to scout. Having to boom Meta t2 to catch a Skarm that may not (and did not) reveal itself is something that he only felt the pressure to do due to lacking a Rapid Spin user or a mixed offensive approach. Even still, there are no Claydol lures, so Dol is stopping Mence's sweep either way, and t2 Explosion against lead Metagross can go horrifically wrong, should robjr reveal rock spam behind. I think the prep would have landed if robjr valued his Cune more highly, though, so I don't fault M Dragon here. Snorlax should be netting much more value than it did this game, too. Even if this team was a risk that didn't pan out, we don't see houdini too often, and this is definitely a stellar comp for it, with Snorlax, Suicune, and Salamence threatening to sweep different teams, and Dugtrio+Zapdos proving to be a handful for others.
This is another build reminiscent of Johnald's against mayo. I think it's
a McMeghan comp. I think I didn't like this team when it first came out, because I tend to shy away from teams that lack fast breaking -- or speed in general. I got haxed too many times as a newbie trying to outstall offensive threats, and I abandoned these comps in frustration, but Johnald's recent innovations have me seeing things in a new light. One small synergy is that Jirachi is easier to Dug than Blissey, which can provide a reason for the opponent to risk HP on their Dugtrio trapping Jira first. I think that McM's use of TW+Aroma on Bliss might just make it Dug bait. Maybe the idea is that CB Meta and Suicune offer significant compensation against Dugtrio stall, too, and whichever of Jirachi or Blissey survives should be a threat. It's not 'safe' or maybe 'certain' enough for my liking, but I can see the appeal, to be honest. It's been a long time since we've seen ZapDug cheese (lol), but
we might need to go back so people stop loading these builds that lean so much on Blissey to check every special attacker. In any case, robjr loaded Bolt Beam Blissey. I don't think that's theoretical at the moment. The meta has shifted to Aroma Bliss with Bold Cune, but it makes sense to fix the Dug problem. Good pick this week, anyway.
Blaise vs Kollin:
Blaise loaded a prototypical 'slop' comp with a lead Salac Cune. I wonder if she was fishing something with it. The rest of the comp is the same as the original comp, including using Penguin Mence with the Celebi+Blissey overload strategy. I suppose Suicune adds to that, given the right set. I'd like to hear her own thoughts on the comp, rather than making too many comments of my own, to be honest. I fell out of love with Raikou under Sand and looked for other ways to make this kind of comp work, but seeing the tech Mence win makes me wonder sometimes if there is something real to Kou+Tar. Maybe having End Pert for Blissey and options for hit and run make all the difference? I can imagine Sub Cune offering something different, auto-winning vs some passive comps, but I'm not sure here.
Kollin also brought an ABR team. He hasn't played ADV in SPL in years, yet his teams remain as topical as ever. This team has some of the same strengths as the previously discussed team that Endill brought. I'm not sure that this team is solid into Zapdos, though, and I tend to distrust Gyarados without some kind of obvious game plan for Aerodactyl, whether that be Twave, HP Rock, Agility Meta, etc. Maybe the Regirock and multiple Aero checks allow for hit and run. I think this might benefit from an update? Maybe the Zapdos weakness is exaggerated. If Blaise is able to trade Tyranitar (or Registeel) into Claydol, trade a piece (Suicune, Registeel, etc.) into Snorlax, and find a way to get chip on Regirock, then Raikou should be dangerous here, but outside of a game plan shielding Zap against Metagross, I feel like the pressure this team has into Tyranitar might make it difficult for Zap to get a free game into Lax+Dol. I still don't believe in this vs EC, since Gar isn't as strongly lured, and there are no good WoW-ins and there is not enough compensation either way for trading out Gar. In any case, we have another Gyarados in SPL -- without Mag -- and on a para spam style of comp.
Fruhdazi vs Zpanther:
SD Pass spotted: I feel like I've seen this comp before in recent years, but I can't place it. I like that it's Sandless, since I love Celebi and Snorlax without Mag. Maybe Metagross should be Pursuit to help against Taunt Gar, though? I never really liked SD Pass because I felt that no Celebi set is pulling its weight in its worst matchups, leading to a low-floor, fishy comp that struggles against phazing and maneuvering around Taunt Gar (or WoW Molt), among others. But that could just be a skill issue on my part that could be fixed with technical sequences in game. I also found Aero without CB difficult to trust for a similar lack of power. The
Tyranitar>Snorlax version(s) of this comp do help with some of the teams problems, but I haven't really experimented enough with these styles to offer much of an opinion here. It's hard to see Meta+Pert+Lax and think that a team lacks breaking power outside of some specific matchups, and I don't think Sand is making or breaking SD Pass, so I wanted to highlight this approach. ADV is polarizing, but it's nice to see that the teams are running bulkier, even as they go more offensive.
I think Zpanther also brought
a McMeghan build. We were spoiled with higher quality builds from everyone this week. Sub spam with Wish support feels like a strong meta pick. Having multiple Skarm and floater checks and lures allows Sub Hera to go to work without getting overwhelmed. This might be
the Sub Hera team to look out for, since we're seeing more and more slow comps without Dug, generally. In recent weeks, we've seen more with Dug, though, and that's my primary point of concern. What do you do when Heracross (and others?) get picked off by Dugtrio? This team has a lot of strengths, but punishing Dugtrio sufficiently might not be one of them. Maybe if Pert were Quagsire to better Rest loop mono waters? Or maybe if Zap had Agility Pass. I'm not going to let you forget about what we lost, or why Dugtrio is the one who should have been cut instead. This kind of team is extremely good into current meta trends, but it's risky to spam it, too. I think it's also worth highlighting the trend of using SpD steels on offense, compressing meaningful physical backbone for threats that concede momentum to the likes of Mence or Aero. Is Wish Jirachi due a resurgence soon? It's worth mentioning at this point that Heracross can do this:
252+ Atk Heracross Focus Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Skarmory: 195-230 (58.3 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
and that getting Skarm into range is realistic for a team like this.
Congrats to Zpanther for getting his first start, btw.
Recap:
