Hello! I am a fairly new player to ADV, although I have been playing competitive Pokemon for quite some time now. I've spent most of my time playing ADV with sample teams, however I have recently decided to dip my toes into teambuilding, starting with one of the simplest team archetypes: TSS. This team uses the Big Five core of Tyranitar, Skarmory, Swampert, Blissey, and Gengar, and uses Starmie as its sixth. This team takes a lot of inspiration from the Starmie TSS sample team by UD.
https://pokepast.es/24e5a929833f3e14
The gameplan of this team is quite simple. Set up sand with Tyranitar, set up Spikes with Skarmory, and work on slowly chipping down the opponent's Pokemon. Swampert, Skarmory, and Blissey form a potent defensive core and wear down the enemy by racking up Toxic damage and forcing switches. Gengar blocks Rapid Spin and keeps the spikes up, and Starmie gets rid of Spikes, helping the defensive core stay healthy. Tyranitar can do a lot of damage after boosting with a Dragon Dance and can potentially end the game with a sweep.
Tyranitar:
I chose Tyranitar as my lead for multiple reasons. First of all, leading with Ttar allows me to set up the sand from turn one. Although it can be scared out by a lot of common leads, getting the sand up is often reason enough to lead with Ttar. Additionally, I don't want to lead Skarmory in case it immediately gets trapped by Magneton. I generally find Tyranitar a more reliable lead than Skarmory because of this.
I went with a Dragon Dance Tyranitar sporting HP Bug. This set hits a lot of things hard and can outspeed a lot of Pokemon after a Dragon Dance. It can be immediately threatening from turn one if it can DDance safely, and can otherwise function as a late game win condition. I decided on Leftovers for its item over Lum Berry, as I value how Leftovers performs more consistently across all matchups.
Tyranitar's EVs allow it to outspeed all base 100 Pokemon without a speed boosting nature after a Dragon Dance. This is particularly useful for beating Salamence and Celebi. It's also EVed to live a Choice Band Dugtrio earthquake from full HP. The rest of EVs are put into Attack to ensure that Tyranitar hits hard, alongside an Adamant nature to boost its attack even further.
Skarmory:
Skarmory's bulk, amplified by its typing, lets it wall a variety of threats and get spikes up without being threatened. I chose a simple defensive set with Spikes, Protect, Toxic, and Roar. Spikes and Toxic can easily wear down most Pokemon. Protect lets Skarmory recover its health thanks to Leftovers and its sand immunity. Roar can punish switches and force out opposing walls or setup sweepers.
I chose a defensive spread to maximise Skarmory's special bulk, to give it the best chance at surviving Magneton's Thunderbolt. I put the remaining 4 EVs into speed to Roar before opposing Skarmory.
Swampert:
Swampert's bulk and ground typing allow it to confidently come in on Pokemon like Tyranitar and Aerodactyl. I went with a spin on the standard defensive set, with Earthquake, Ice Beam, Protect, and Toxic. I like Toxic Swampert because of how it can hit certain unsuspecting defensive Pokemon and wear them down over the course of the game, in particular Suicune and opposing Swampert. I chose Protect because of how it allows Swampert to recover HP over the course of the game with Leftovers. Earthquake and Ice Beam allows Swampert to threaten a wide range of offensive and defensive Pokemon, in particular Tyranitar, Metagross, Salamence, Jirachi, and Zapdos.
Swampert's Special Defense EV's allow it to survive a Hidden Power Grass from Zapdos or Jolteon. The rest of the EVs are invested in HP and Defense to boost Swampert's physical bulk. A Relaxed nature boosts Swampert's defense even further while reducing its speed, the stat which it has the least need for.
Blissey:
Blissey's stats and typing make it the perfect special wall. Since I already have two Pokemon spreading Toxic on my team, I opted to use a more offensive Calm Mind set that can function as a late game win condition while walling lots of Pokemon throughout the early and mid game. Flamethrower and Ice Beam allow Blissey to take on a wide variety of Pokemon that it walls, such as Skarmory, Zapdos, Celebi, and Magneton, punish switches to Metagross, Heracross, and Breloom, and threaten to switch into and defeat most Salamence. I chose Flamethrower over Fire Blast due to its higher PP count, although I also value the improved accuracy, especially on a Calm Mind Blissey. Soft-Boiled is my last move, and it lets Blissey recover its health consistently and stay healthy throughout the match in the face of sandstorm.
Blissey has maximum EV investment in Defense and Special Attack, to hit hard and to take some physical hits in a pinch, in particular Dugtrio's Earthquake, which it can survive at full HP. Blissey's Modest nature serves to boost its damage even further and threaten a OHKO on Dugtrio with Ice Beam. I invested the remaining 4 EVs in Speed to outspeed opposing Blissey.
Gengar:
Gengar's valuable Ghost typing allows it to block Rapid Spin, making it a perfect teammate for Skarmory. I decided to run an offensive Gengar, capable of threatening all of ADV's rapid spinners and doing decent damage to Pursuit Tyranitar. Gengar uses Hidden Power Grass, Thunderbolt, Ice Punch, and Explosion. I really wanted a HP Grass Pokemon on this team to threaten Swampert, and as Gengar is my most threatening Pokemon on the special side, I decided it made sense. HP Grass also does good damage to Tyranitar and to Claydol. Ice Punch hits Claydol even harder, in addition to Pokemon like Zapdos and Celebi. Thunderbolt is Gengar's strongest special attack and allows it to do a lot of damage to Starmie. Explosion is a last resort to deal with Pokemon like Blissey or Suicune or for when Gengar is on its last legs.
I decided to run a mostly offensive EV spread, with maximum Special Attack investment and a Timid nature to boost speed. Gengar's Speed EVs let it outspeed any base 100 Pokemon, including Salamence and Zapdos. The rest of the EVs are put into HP to let it switch in on spinners and generally take hits more reliably.
Starmie:
Due to its speed and its wide movepool, Starmie is one of the most reliable spinners in ADV. I wanted Starmie to be fast and bulky, so I invested 252 EVs into HP and 216 into Speed. This specific speed investment allows Starmie to outspeed all Gengars. I invested the remaining EVs in Special Attack, to help Starmie deal slightly more damage.
I went for a mostly defensive moveset of Rapid Spin, Recover, Surf, Psychic. Rapid Spin goes without saying, it removes Spikes and helps to keep Swampert, Blissey, and Tyranitar healthy. Recover allows Starmie to stay healthy and Rapid Spin plenty of times throughout the match. Surf is a solid STAB move that does decent damage into most Pokemon, and Psychic allows Starmie to threaten Gengar in particular.
https://pokepast.es/24e5a929833f3e14
The gameplan of this team is quite simple. Set up sand with Tyranitar, set up Spikes with Skarmory, and work on slowly chipping down the opponent's Pokemon. Swampert, Skarmory, and Blissey form a potent defensive core and wear down the enemy by racking up Toxic damage and forcing switches. Gengar blocks Rapid Spin and keeps the spikes up, and Starmie gets rid of Spikes, helping the defensive core stay healthy. Tyranitar can do a lot of damage after boosting with a Dragon Dance and can potentially end the game with a sweep.
Tyranitar:
I chose Tyranitar as my lead for multiple reasons. First of all, leading with Ttar allows me to set up the sand from turn one. Although it can be scared out by a lot of common leads, getting the sand up is often reason enough to lead with Ttar. Additionally, I don't want to lead Skarmory in case it immediately gets trapped by Magneton. I generally find Tyranitar a more reliable lead than Skarmory because of this.
I went with a Dragon Dance Tyranitar sporting HP Bug. This set hits a lot of things hard and can outspeed a lot of Pokemon after a Dragon Dance. It can be immediately threatening from turn one if it can DDance safely, and can otherwise function as a late game win condition. I decided on Leftovers for its item over Lum Berry, as I value how Leftovers performs more consistently across all matchups.
Tyranitar's EVs allow it to outspeed all base 100 Pokemon without a speed boosting nature after a Dragon Dance. This is particularly useful for beating Salamence and Celebi. It's also EVed to live a Choice Band Dugtrio earthquake from full HP. The rest of EVs are put into Attack to ensure that Tyranitar hits hard, alongside an Adamant nature to boost its attack even further.
Skarmory:
Skarmory's bulk, amplified by its typing, lets it wall a variety of threats and get spikes up without being threatened. I chose a simple defensive set with Spikes, Protect, Toxic, and Roar. Spikes and Toxic can easily wear down most Pokemon. Protect lets Skarmory recover its health thanks to Leftovers and its sand immunity. Roar can punish switches and force out opposing walls or setup sweepers.
I chose a defensive spread to maximise Skarmory's special bulk, to give it the best chance at surviving Magneton's Thunderbolt. I put the remaining 4 EVs into speed to Roar before opposing Skarmory.
Swampert:
Swampert's bulk and ground typing allow it to confidently come in on Pokemon like Tyranitar and Aerodactyl. I went with a spin on the standard defensive set, with Earthquake, Ice Beam, Protect, and Toxic. I like Toxic Swampert because of how it can hit certain unsuspecting defensive Pokemon and wear them down over the course of the game, in particular Suicune and opposing Swampert. I chose Protect because of how it allows Swampert to recover HP over the course of the game with Leftovers. Earthquake and Ice Beam allows Swampert to threaten a wide range of offensive and defensive Pokemon, in particular Tyranitar, Metagross, Salamence, Jirachi, and Zapdos.
Swampert's Special Defense EV's allow it to survive a Hidden Power Grass from Zapdos or Jolteon. The rest of the EVs are invested in HP and Defense to boost Swampert's physical bulk. A Relaxed nature boosts Swampert's defense even further while reducing its speed, the stat which it has the least need for.
Blissey:
Blissey's stats and typing make it the perfect special wall. Since I already have two Pokemon spreading Toxic on my team, I opted to use a more offensive Calm Mind set that can function as a late game win condition while walling lots of Pokemon throughout the early and mid game. Flamethrower and Ice Beam allow Blissey to take on a wide variety of Pokemon that it walls, such as Skarmory, Zapdos, Celebi, and Magneton, punish switches to Metagross, Heracross, and Breloom, and threaten to switch into and defeat most Salamence. I chose Flamethrower over Fire Blast due to its higher PP count, although I also value the improved accuracy, especially on a Calm Mind Blissey. Soft-Boiled is my last move, and it lets Blissey recover its health consistently and stay healthy throughout the match in the face of sandstorm.
Blissey has maximum EV investment in Defense and Special Attack, to hit hard and to take some physical hits in a pinch, in particular Dugtrio's Earthquake, which it can survive at full HP. Blissey's Modest nature serves to boost its damage even further and threaten a OHKO on Dugtrio with Ice Beam. I invested the remaining 4 EVs in Speed to outspeed opposing Blissey.
Gengar:
Gengar's valuable Ghost typing allows it to block Rapid Spin, making it a perfect teammate for Skarmory. I decided to run an offensive Gengar, capable of threatening all of ADV's rapid spinners and doing decent damage to Pursuit Tyranitar. Gengar uses Hidden Power Grass, Thunderbolt, Ice Punch, and Explosion. I really wanted a HP Grass Pokemon on this team to threaten Swampert, and as Gengar is my most threatening Pokemon on the special side, I decided it made sense. HP Grass also does good damage to Tyranitar and to Claydol. Ice Punch hits Claydol even harder, in addition to Pokemon like Zapdos and Celebi. Thunderbolt is Gengar's strongest special attack and allows it to do a lot of damage to Starmie. Explosion is a last resort to deal with Pokemon like Blissey or Suicune or for when Gengar is on its last legs.
I decided to run a mostly offensive EV spread, with maximum Special Attack investment and a Timid nature to boost speed. Gengar's Speed EVs let it outspeed any base 100 Pokemon, including Salamence and Zapdos. The rest of the EVs are put into HP to let it switch in on spinners and generally take hits more reliably.
Starmie:
Due to its speed and its wide movepool, Starmie is one of the most reliable spinners in ADV. I wanted Starmie to be fast and bulky, so I invested 252 EVs into HP and 216 into Speed. This specific speed investment allows Starmie to outspeed all Gengars. I invested the remaining EVs in Special Attack, to help Starmie deal slightly more damage.
I went for a mostly defensive moveset of Rapid Spin, Recover, Surf, Psychic. Rapid Spin goes without saying, it removes Spikes and helps to keep Swampert, Blissey, and Tyranitar healthy. Recover allows Starmie to stay healthy and Rapid Spin plenty of times throughout the match. Surf is a solid STAB move that does decent damage into most Pokemon, and Psychic allows Starmie to threaten Gengar in particular.
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