I am a relatively new player in ADV (and competitive Pokemon in general) but have had pretty good success with a recent team I made which I thought I would share here. It's been an absolute blast to play with but has also given me consistent results on the ladder.
Obviously, in a metagame this old, I am sure people have built teams like this before (e.g https://pokepast.es/108a2bcaa27727da Sample Team by SEA). However, it definitely seems a bit more of an unusual team style to have consistent success with and that's partly why I wanted to share it and get people's feedback.
Ideas behind the team
The idea for this team originally came from playing with more standard Zapdos-Dugtrio Calm Mind-pass special offence teams. I had been having moderate success with these but often found them difficult to play with due to battles hinging in quite a binary way on getting specific traps and specific sequences correct in the first few turns (trap their Blissey before they make >1 spike). I also found Dugtrio a bit "clunky" to play with due to it being a huge momentum sink on an otherwise offensive team and the fact it can be exploited by Skarmory for spikes with fortunate opposing roar outcomes.
As a result I wanted to make a Specially-oriented offence team that used Calm Mind-pass bolstered mixed attackers to force in and break the opponents special walls. This would hopefully result in a team of 6 that rarely gives opposing spikers free turns whilst still maintaining some of the benefits of the concentrated offence that Special-offence teams provide.
The Team (https://pokepast.es/74476ef131f6504c)
Tyranitar @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 16 Atk / 240 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Rock Slide
- Focus Punch
Mixed Tyranitar is the chosen lead. It is often able to do a lot of damage to the opponents team when it gets a favourable lead match-up - they either have to pivot around it or have a good response, which will often be food for Celebi. In this vain, it rewards aggressive predictions and good understanding of team structures/common lead sequences. It also sets up sand which, whilst preventing the chip healing of 3 of this team's Pokemon, is worth it to make damage stick to walls (particularly Snorlax) and limit otherwise potent anti-offence strategies (Salac sweepers, weather sweepers, Ninjask cheese).
The combo of Fire Blast and HP-Grass are standard on Mixed-Tar for hitting Skarmory and Swampert. Rock Slide is chosen to hit Zapdos and, in conjunction with Focus Punch, will make Blissey hate its life if it is forced in. In many cases it is worth preserving Tyranitar to receive a Calm Mind pass later in the game in order to manufacture this situation. Therefore, one should tend to switch out of potentially dangerous lead match ups against Salamence and opposing Tyranitar and keep its set concealed. Omitting Ice Beam means it cannot hit Flygon, but this is covered by other team members.
Lum berry is used to counteract sleep leads and give the team some counterplay against status.
16 attack EVs ensure Aerodactyl is KO'd by Rock Slide. The remaining EVs are put into special attack and speed to maximise power and whilst getting the jump against max-speed Swampert.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 76 SpA / 180 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Baton Pass
As explained in the prior section, the main idea behind this team is to pass calm mind boosts to the teams mixed attackers. Celebi is the obvious candidate to enable this. It generally pivots in on bulky water types or opposing Celebi in the early game and tries to get a +1 pass off immediately. It is also able to pivot into and Calm Mind against Mixed-Tyranitar, Pursuit Tyranitar, Claydol, Zapdos, Jolteon, Magneton, defensive Flygon, defensive Jirachi, and even Mixed Salamence. Sometimes this can be a little Sketchy (leaving Celebi low) but can result in a huge momentum reversal against other offensive teams if pulled off. It is also very good at exploiting the opponents choice locks, in particular Dugtrio locked into Earthquake.
HP-Fire is mandatory to hit Skarmory which will often come in to Roar Celebi out. Giga Drain allows Celebi to output damage if needed and comes with the added benefit of recovery - its low pp isn't ideal but this is mitigated by the pace of the team and having other Pokemon to hit bulky waters.
The EVs are standard and, in particular, allow Celebi to live Dugtrio HP-Bug from full, as well as anything from (non-blaze) Charizard or Moltres after a Calm Mind boost. The speed EVs allow Celebi to outspeed timid Moltres and all neutral nature base 100s.
Charizard @ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Beat Up
- Focus Punch
Charizard is the team's main early-mid game breaker. Many standard defensive cores already struggle to deal with its coverage combination. However, if one manages to pass a calm mind boost, it powers through even its usual checks. At +1 SpA it has good odds to 2HKO defensive Suicune, Milotic, Salamence, Rest Zapdos, BKC Tar and most Snorlax, which all become guaranteed 2HKO's after sand/any chip. The +1 SdD boost aids this by allowing it to take super-effective hits it normally wouldn't be able to from many of these checks.
It is imperative to have 5-6 team mates alive and healthy in order 2HKO Blissey with beat up. Otherwise, the Fire Blast-Focus Punch Combination can be used to beat Blissey or keep it low, but this is far less reliable. Therefore, Charizard is best used in the early-middle game - receiving Calm Mind boosts or pivoting in on the likes of Skarmory, Forretress, defensive Jirachi Wish/Protect and Metagross Meteor Mash/Earthquake. It is also often used to pivot into fighting type moves that threaten lead-Tyranitar. Whilst these will often chunk Charizard quite significantly, it is often to its benefit to activate Blaze.
The EVs are pretty self-explanatory with Rash nature being chosen to maximise power and lower special defence. The Rash vs Mild choice doesn't have a clear answer to me and could be changed. Rash has a good chance to live a +1 Return from standard Curse-lax, a problematic Pokemon, in Blaze range. However, there may be similar calculations one could point to justifying a Mild nature.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 224 HP / 80 Def / 160 SpA / 44 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Focus Punch
Swampert is the team's main physical wall. With 224 HP and 80 Def EVs it is relatively sturdy against Physical Tyranitar, Salamence, Metagross, Flygon and Aerodactyl. The HP investment also allows Swampert to live HP-Grass from offensive Gengar, mixed Salamence, Charizard, and KO back.
160 SpA EVs and a Quiet nature are chosen to allow Swampert to also be an offensive threat itself, guaranteeing a 1HKO on the standard defensive Flygon with Ice Beam. In some match-ups, particularly against superman teams or those using Swampert as their sole bulky water type, Swampert can be an excellent breaker. This is especially true if it receives a Calm Mind boost. It is also good at breaking through Snorlax on teams where it is being used as the primary special wall due to its physical bulk.
44 Spe EVs allow Swampert to outspeed Blissey and finish it off with Earthquake after a Focus Punch.
Jolteon @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Baton Pass
- Roar
Jolteon is the teams main check to fast special attackers such as Zapdos, Offensive Starmie and Gengar, as well as helping deal with Suicune if Celebi is out of commission. Its speed also makes it excellent at cleaning up the end-games.
Defensively, Jolteon will often try to pivot in on electric moves aimed at Charizard, or general weak special attacks, and baton pass out to maintain momentum. Roar also has defensive applications and allows Jolteon to act as a temporary phazer to the opponents special attackers when in a pinch.
Offensively, the combination of Roar and Baton Pass makes Jolteon a great Calm Mind receiver. Passing to Jolteon punishes the opponent for ever delaying phazing Celebi out, as it has the fastest roar in the tier. It can also be passed to if Celebi gets into a Calm-Mind war to take a hit, roar and maintain the Calm Mind Boosts. From there it will often just sweep or pass the boosts on to another teammate to break the opponents defensive core.
HP-Ice is chosen to be able to hit Flygon and Salamence. This mitigates for the lack of HP-Ice on Tyranitar and makes Jolteon strong into physical offensive teams that use Salamence, Gyarados or offensive Flygon to clean up in the endgame.
Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Explosion
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Choice Banded Metagross is the final Member of the team. With its Power and bulk it is a flexible resource that can be used either offensively or defensively depending on the match-up. It also provides a back-up breaker for when the Calm Mind pass game plan isn't working.
Against more defensive teams, Metagross should be used to break by spamming Meteor Mash to wear their team down, fishing for attack raises and then exploding when appropriate.
Against more offensive teams, Metagross is generally used as a flexible defensive resource which can be used as a temporary check and momentum reversal against pretty much anything that doesn't have a STAB fire move. For example, Metagross will often pivot in on a turn 1 Brick Break from the likes of Salamence and Tyranitar and scare them out. It also forms a good partnership with Swampert in checking physical attackers, Raikou and Calm Mind Jirachi.
With 252 Atk EVs and an Adamant nature, Metagross always 1HKOs Salamence's which lack bulk with Meteor mash. 56 Spe EVs are used to outspeed almost all defensive Claydol, which can otherwise be annoying for this team by threatening to 1v1 Jolteon and Tyranitar with Earthquake. The remaining 200 EVs are put into HP. This bulk allows Metagross to live a Brick Break into a Fire Blast from Mixed Tyranitar. It is also appreciated in tanking explosions which threaten to prevent a Calm Mind Pass.
Rock Slide is chosen as the final move of choice as it can hit Zapdos.
Example Replays:
- vs Fighter-Spam offence: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2285292501?p2
- vs fellow CM-pass offence: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2287399732-562v1ikhc8ba7elex1b2mdx815ee3bypw?p2
- vs Superman: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2287404002-lt5c16y0mnvm79ds17e26gn7myw64nqpw?p2 (Charizard breaks and Jolteon cleans)
- vs Rock-Spam HO: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2285300160-s3x7w2ymxzobmtvn4zf2mgdi4f92tp1pw (2 Rock resists useful)
- vs Weird Boom-spam + Dug: team: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2285296125-l8x9s4vcc49fulwnqct5mk5rlinm52wpw?p2 (trading kills with Dugtrio and then winning endgame)
- vs Mixed offence: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2287424247
- vs Boom-spam: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2287435348 (trading kills with Dugtrio and keeping Suicune counters alive)
- vs Curse-Lax weather clear: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2285276550 (shows difficulty of Curse-Lax match-up)
- vs Cloy-Jolt spikes: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2287443477
- vs Skarm-Dol bulky Balance: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2287468478 (win by CM-passing on mix-Mence)
- vs Weather clear offense: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2287475698-yesndf81qre602ndjyw6d7a1qdle4jopw (shows frailty to Heracross but also the power of Baton Passing between Celebi and Jolteon)
- vs Balanced TSS: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2287540253-ufe2f2su1dzurd74oixgatvby3uxu8qpw (shows dangers of mixed-Mence)
- vs Magneton Offence: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2287544078 (Again, Heracross frailty)
- vs Big 5 + Zap TSS: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2287548067-kgj5ew2nns7zdab28xjaw5zfznb633ppw (shows how strong the team can be at limiting early spikes and applying offence)
- vs Hariyama TSS: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-2287561217-9horswzn3xhu95msxh172kyeq612wcopw (Tyranitar proving very effective in Zapdos TSS matchups)
Proof of Ladder Peak:
Threats and thing to be aware of
The first list below is for things that tend to threaten the team offensively. It should be noted that, although this seems like a long list of threats, the team very rarely gives many of these Pokemon free entry opportunities, and so in practise they are easier to deal with/can be traded down with.
- Calm-Mind, Psychic, Fire Punch, HP-Grass Jirachi: This obviously threatens to sweep the team if it gets a few boosts. It gets destroyed by Metagross Earthquake or Charizard Fire Blast, but one needs to generally play proactively and try to win before it gets too many chances to set up as it is not going to need to many entry opportunities before it will just get out of hand.
- Mixed Salamence/Tyranitar. This team has no reliable switch-ins to all of the moves from these mixed attackers and so one has to pivot around these. Often it is good to bring Celebi in on a HP-Grass or Brick Break and try to get a Calm Mind Pass. Metagross also makes a good pivot into these moves and will often be favoured to live a Fire Blast afterwards from Mixed Tyranitar. Jolteon can also be used as a switch in to Salamence, but this should generally be done later in the game as it is easily stopped early on.
- Fire types: Moltres and Charizard can be hard to switch into for this team and, if double switch in correctly, can force Celebi out. Preserving a Moltres switch in is one of the main reasons it's best to play a bit more cautiously with the lead Tyranitar. Otherwise, it's probably best to trade down with one's own Charizard or try and pivot Jolteon in on a weak hidden power to force them out. Although Niche, Houndoom and Camerupt are potentially even worse. Again Tyranitar is the best line of attack here else you will probably have to make some aggressive predictions/unfavourable trade to get through.
- Fighting Types: Particularly from the lead slot, the likes of Medicham, Blaziken or Heracross can tear through a lot of this team with the correct predictions. An unrevealed Charizard often makes a good switch into these as it doesn't always mind losing HP and can force them out. As with many offensive teams however, if CB Heracross/Medicham happen to click the right button, you are going to lose a Pokemon.
- Weather Sweepers: The likes of Kingdra and Ludicolo can use Rain Dance and sweep a large portion of the team if Tyranitar is gone. Obviously having awareness and preserving Tyranitar will be useful here, as will preserving Celebi's HP - it can actually boost up and pass on these Pokemon which can be result in a huge momentum reversal if timed with rain turns correctly.
- Curse Snorlax: Snorlax is already a bit of a pain for this team and, like many specially offensive teams, you may need to trade >1 Pokemon (e.g Swampert, Tyranitar, Charizard) to get through it. Curse-lax takes this a step further and requires good play to not give many free turns to the opponent throughout the battle in order to allow them to curse, aromatherapy or burn sleep turns. Sand obviously helps and one has to therefore be aware of preserving Tyranitar and not letting it get trapped easily. Metagross is probably the most useful here though as the all-in nature or these teams often means the threat of explosion on Snorlax gives it free chances to Mash and break down their other defensive pieces.
- Mixed Salamence/Tyranitar. This team has no reliable switch-ins to all of the moves from these mixed attackers and so one has to pivot around these. Often it is good to bring Celebi in on a HP-Grass or Brick Break and try to get a Calm Mind Pass. Metagross also makes a good pivot into these moves and will often be favoured to live a Fire Blast afterwards from Mixed Tyranitar. Jolteon can also be used as a switch in to Salamence, but this should generally be done later in the game as it is easily stopped early on.
- Fire types: Moltres and Charizard can be hard to switch into for this team and, if double switch in correctly, can force Celebi out. Preserving a Moltres switch in is one of the main reasons it's best to play a bit more cautiously with the lead Tyranitar. Otherwise, it's probably best to trade down with one's own Charizard or try and pivot Jolteon in on a weak hidden power to force them out. Although Niche, Houndoom and Camerupt are potentially even worse. Again Tyranitar is the best line of attack here else you will probably have to make some aggressive predictions/unfavourable trade to get through.
- Fighting Types: Particularly from the lead slot, the likes of Medicham, Blaziken or Heracross can tear through a lot of this team with the correct predictions. An unrevealed Charizard often makes a good switch into these as it doesn't always mind losing HP and can force them out. As with many offensive teams however, if CB Heracross/Medicham happen to click the right button, you are going to lose a Pokemon.
- Weather Sweepers: The likes of Kingdra and Ludicolo can use Rain Dance and sweep a large portion of the team if Tyranitar is gone. Obviously having awareness and preserving Tyranitar will be useful here, as will preserving Celebi's HP - it can actually boost up and pass on these Pokemon which can be result in a huge momentum reversal if timed with rain turns correctly.
- Curse Snorlax: Snorlax is already a bit of a pain for this team and, like many specially offensive teams, you may need to trade >1 Pokemon (e.g Swampert, Tyranitar, Charizard) to get through it. Curse-lax takes this a step further and requires good play to not give many free turns to the opponent throughout the battle in order to allow them to curse, aromatherapy or burn sleep turns. Sand obviously helps and one has to therefore be aware of preserving Tyranitar and not letting it get trapped easily. Metagross is probably the most useful here though as the all-in nature or these teams often means the threat of explosion on Snorlax gives it free chances to Mash and break down their other defensive pieces.
- Jolly Band Salamence and HP-Bug Aerodactyl: These aren't necessarily problems from a defensive standpoint, but they can reliably stop Celebi from getting a Calm Mind pass off and reverse momentum. This can be played around as this team ways to punish their choice locks, but one needs to be aware of this and play accordingly.
- Dugtrio + Weather Clear: In the same vein as Curse-Snorlax, Dugtrio eliminating Tyranitar and sand being cleared means a lot of ranges for the likes of +1 Charizard become far less favourable and so breaking can be more difficult. However Jolteon, Celebi and Metagross are also solid against Suicune, the most common weather clear abuser, so there will be defensive counterplay to their offence in most of these match ups.
- Lead Dugtrio: Not much to add to the above case here - this is obviously bad for lead Tyranitar.
- Defensive Zapdos: Defensive Zapdos is a sturdy roar user that matches up well into Celebi. When paired with the likes of Blissey, Milotic, Skarmory and Dugtrio you end up with a team that is very hard to break, due to our breakers needing Calm-Mind Boosts to do so. In these match ups, getting damage onto their Phazer's early is important, and one should take any chance to do so. Making good use of Metagross should hold the key here as it can explode on Skarmory to deny their spikes or Milotic to open the way for Charizard.
- Explosion users: Many teams without a good phazing option will try to stop Celebi via Explosion from the likes of Claydol, Gengar, Metagross or Snorlax. This is normally fairly telegraphed and Metagross/Tyranitar can be used to tank an explosion from anything other than CB Metagross in these cases.
- Dugtrio + Weather Clear: In the same vein as Curse-Snorlax, Dugtrio eliminating Tyranitar and sand being cleared means a lot of ranges for the likes of +1 Charizard become far less favourable and so breaking can be more difficult. However Jolteon, Celebi and Metagross are also solid against Suicune, the most common weather clear abuser, so there will be defensive counterplay to their offence in most of these match ups.
- Lead Dugtrio: Not much to add to the above case here - this is obviously bad for lead Tyranitar.
- Defensive Zapdos: Defensive Zapdos is a sturdy roar user that matches up well into Celebi. When paired with the likes of Blissey, Milotic, Skarmory and Dugtrio you end up with a team that is very hard to break, due to our breakers needing Calm-Mind Boosts to do so. In these match ups, getting damage onto their Phazer's early is important, and one should take any chance to do so. Making good use of Metagross should hold the key here as it can explode on Skarmory to deny their spikes or Milotic to open the way for Charizard.
- Explosion users: Many teams without a good phazing option will try to stop Celebi via Explosion from the likes of Claydol, Gengar, Metagross or Snorlax. This is normally fairly telegraphed and Metagross/Tyranitar can be used to tank an explosion from anything other than CB Metagross in these cases.
Potential Changes and Optimisations:
Finally this is some potential things that could be done to improve the team.
- Psychic on Celebi can be used to have a better match up into Zapdos and Moltres. This will obviously be worse into the likes of Suicune and Swampert and so it really just changes the phazers one has good/bad match ups against.
- Focus Punch can be removed from Charizard. In practice it didn't really get used very much, at least not against Blissey. In its place Dragon claw for Salamence or Substitute could be used.
- The likes of Flamethrower and Surf can be used instead Fire Blast and Hydro Pump for better accuracy and pp. However, in many cases, the extra power of these inaccurate options feels necessary, particularly Fire Blast on Charizard and Tyranitar.
- The Evs/Natures on Celebi, Tyranitar and Metagross could adjusted. Lots of changes for Celebi could be considered: more Def to survive Dugtrio HP-Bug + sand or more SpA to guarantee KO it and chunk Skarmory more with HP-Grass. Tyranitar could run a Mild Nature instead of Hasty as speed tying other +Spe Tyranitar it's that impactful when we don't have Brick Break, and +Spe Swampert is rare. Metagross could drop its attack EVs to 212 to "only" guarantee kill Skarmory with Explosion and invest more in bulk to better check offensive threats like Tyranitar and Salamence.
- Lead Metagross could be run over Tyranitar to change things up. Again, one should be cautious and not just explode on lead in most situations as Metagross can often be defensively integral.
- Jolteon can be also run as a lead. It is better into mixed Salamence lead, the most threatening common lead to the team, and will normally scare out Skarmory. However, it will not force Bulky waters in like Tyranitar or Metagross would and so isn't as conducive the the Calm Mind pass gameplan. It also struggles to do damage itself early in the game.
- Focus Punch can be removed from Charizard. In practice it didn't really get used very much, at least not against Blissey. In its place Dragon claw for Salamence or Substitute could be used.
- The likes of Flamethrower and Surf can be used instead Fire Blast and Hydro Pump for better accuracy and pp. However, in many cases, the extra power of these inaccurate options feels necessary, particularly Fire Blast on Charizard and Tyranitar.
- The Evs/Natures on Celebi, Tyranitar and Metagross could adjusted. Lots of changes for Celebi could be considered: more Def to survive Dugtrio HP-Bug + sand or more SpA to guarantee KO it and chunk Skarmory more with HP-Grass. Tyranitar could run a Mild Nature instead of Hasty as speed tying other +Spe Tyranitar it's that impactful when we don't have Brick Break, and +Spe Swampert is rare. Metagross could drop its attack EVs to 212 to "only" guarantee kill Skarmory with Explosion and invest more in bulk to better check offensive threats like Tyranitar and Salamence.
- Lead Metagross could be run over Tyranitar to change things up. Again, one should be cautious and not just explode on lead in most situations as Metagross can often be defensively integral.
- Jolteon can be also run as a lead. It is better into mixed Salamence lead, the most threatening common lead to the team, and will normally scare out Skarmory. However, it will not force Bulky waters in like Tyranitar or Metagross would and so isn't as conducive the the Calm Mind pass gameplan. It also struggles to do damage itself early in the game.
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