#10 - Metagross
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metagross very rarely ends up being a huge threat on its own, since things like milotic, swampert and forretress are on every team, but it is the reason that every team needs a bulky water, even more so than the likes of aerodactyl, tyranitar, and salamence, who have other counters in pokemon like claydol. even skarmory, whose only real threats to metagross are impending spikes and whirlwind or roar, is rather susceptible to attack boosts or even crits when taking powerful choice banded meteor mashes. the most threatening thing about metagross is certainly explosion. metagross rarely pulls off a sweep on its own, but it is incredibly good at clearing the way for one of your other threats to get off a sweep. explosion can pave the way for a sweep by itself, but given metagross's solid special attack the susceptibility of some of its counters hidden power grass and fire, metagross is often capable of using the threat of explosion to tear apart half of a team with a mixed set by the time it's blown up. using lum berry to feign the common choice band set can help you get an easy kill on any gengar that tries to stay in to will o wisp you or tries take advantage of seeming choice banded earthquakes. metagross is also capable of using STAB psychic or pursuit to get gengar out of the way. hidden power fire can land a surprise ohko on forretress or a 2hko on skarmory. hidden power grass is a clean 2hko on swampert. after getting rid of metagross's other counters with hidden power and/or magneton support, metagross is free to blow up on something else, likely a celebi or a zapdos trying to tank meteor mashes and wear you down. with important and common defensive pokemon like zapdos, gengar, swampert, celebi, and skarmory out of the way, something like salamence or gyarados will have a much easier time with the opponent's team. of course, due to its excellent typing and stats, metagross also provides your team with important resistances to rock, flying, and normal attacks, and because of the threat of explosion and/or choice banded meteor mashes, it has an easy time scaring off common threats like celebi and curselax, making metagross a great fit for many teams as an efficient offensive threat and a solid defensive component.
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#9 - Aerodactyl
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Think of a faster Salamence but it's only good at one thing, though it does it well. Choice Band Aerodactyl is a very peculiar threat in that it forces teams to carry Swampert (perhaps moreso than Tyranitar does) or keep Jirachi or Metagross alive for as long as possible. STABed Rock Slide has that much of an impact on the game, and it starts getting spooky when your Skarmory or Flygon can't deal with all the flinches later in the game. A team can be prepared for Aerodactyl, even with such Pokemon as Suicune and Milotic, but one must always keep that 30% flinch rate in mind, as it really is a game changer and Aero's claim to fame.
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#8 - Dugtrio
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Dugtrio is a threat because it can trap and destroy other threats. This is quite important, since Raikou, Tyranitar, Heracross, Celebi, Metagross, and Jirachi are all pretty dangerous/clutch sweepers, and once Dugtrio finds away in (prediction, revenge kill, or Raikou Thunderbolt/Calm Mind) it can just ruin their day. Cleaning up Pokemon who are low on health is not a bad deal either, since Arena Trap forces them to take the damage, even if they could switch out and recover their health later. On its own, Dugtrio is nothing special, with its only outstanding stat being Speed, but those that can be trapped and killed by it must be wary of it if it prematurely makes itself known.
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#7 - Salamence
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A good offensive base stat distribution, a good offensive movepool, and access Dragon Dance is all that's really needed to make this guy a relevant threat. But what's really cool about Salamence is how much control it can potentially take over the pacing of a game. It's typing gives it a wide array of resistances to switch in on with Intimidate backing it up on taking physical hits, and when it goes come in, the decisions the opponent has to make in dealing with it can often roll in your favor. In the same, general way the onslaught of offensive Celebi/Jirachi/Suicune (ala JabbaTheGriffin) can whittle down special walls, Salamence begins chipping away at counters it shares with physical attackers like Metagross and Tyranitar. Thus the counter has to do its best to stay healthy, from which you can make relatively easier predictions and keep the opponent checked. It's not as overbearing as Tyranitar and Celebi have become, but it's good at keeping the pressure on.
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#6 - Snorlax
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Snorlax has fallen a bit from its original glory, what with the common Sand Stream negating Leftovers recovery, thus hindering its prowess (somewhat) as a special wall, but any team not equipped to handle it will find themselves tumbling on a downhill slope. The existence Snorlax's premier Curse set forces every team to have at least one way of dealing with it, as by the time of the second Curse, if you haven't scared it off already, it's probably too late. The problem with this set is that you're forced to choose between Earthquake and Shadow Ball as secondary attacks-
One leaves it helpless against Gengar while one leaves it at the mercy of Metagross, Tyranitar, and Jirachi. That said, Snorlax has just enough options to add a bit of mixup to its role via Fire Blast and Selfdestruct. In this, it can act as somewhat of a lure for destroying shared counters and clearing a path for another member of your team, similar to HP Grass Metagross or Tyranitar. Either way, Snorlax is just one of those Pokemon that you MUST be prepared to handle, as it's longevity and big Attack stat allows it cause big dents in a team and Curse can quickly make it impenetrable.
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#5 - Suicune
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Suicune's been a big guy even since the earlier days of ADV, known for having "NO WEAK" once it gets rolling with a few Calm Minds. Traditionally it functions as a wall, given nice a nice defensive distribution in its base stats and defensive tools like Reflect and Roar. Calm Mind helps make it a special tank while simultaneously making it an offensive threat even to those that would be its counters (it shrugs off attacks from Snorlax and can Roar it out, outstalls Blissey, Regice won't stand a chance without Psych Up, and Celebi might have to deal with Ice Beam). In recent times, however, its offensive prowess has contributed to shaking up the metagame. Factor in great bulk that shines even without a defensive spread, a decent speed stat, and a common habit for Zapdos to run well below Suicune's max speed, and an offensive-oriented Suicune can be quite tough to deal with. Having such great defenses also allows for it to be a particular pain with 101 HP Substitutes. Once it finds an opportunity to switch in on something like a Water type, it can sub up to avoid potential status and begin to wreak havoc.
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#4 - Jirachi
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Offensively, Jirachi is just as dangerous, if not moreso, as Celebi. With the same base stats, Jirachi gets the edge on offensive Calm Mind sets with an extensive special move pool (Read as: It gets Thunder/Thunderbolt and the elemental punches). Its Steel typing also allows it to switch in on different set of threats and attacks, like Choice Banded HP Flyings and Rock Slides from Aerodactyl or Salamence. It's also got tools to play a supportive role via Wish, Light Screen, Reflect, and Thunder Wave, if those are the kind of tools your team needs to succeed. Celebi tends to be more valuable for a greater level of versatility, however.
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#3 - Celebi
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Celebi is...versatile. On defense it can deter certain threats, like Snorlax or Suicune, with Leech and makes somewhat of a special tank when it can set up with Calm Mind. Reflect and Heal Beal also make a team player. Switch it over to offense, however, and it's a whole new ball game. Baton Pass allows it to scout for threats, lure in Pokemon for Magneton or Dugtrio to trap, as well as pass 101 HP Substitutes, Calm Minds, or Swords Dances to strong offenders. It can even stand alone with the popular iteration of Calm Mind/Psychic/Giga Drain/HP Fire, a set that has shown particular success against many a TSS team and is hard to stop if you let it get rolling. If there's anything else to say, for every weakness Celebi has to exploit, it's got good base stats and just as many resistances to take advantage of to get it in safely and pose a threat.
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#2 - Gengar
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Infamous for being unpredictable, Gengar stays true to this creed to be one of the most dangerous Pokemon in OU, especially with the rise in Giga Drain and Will-O-Wisp usage. Gengar's big SAtk allows it to do the kind of damage some Pokemon get with the same attacks when they are STABed and gets a number of cool immunities and resistances to make up for its frail defenses. On top of being a premiere special attacker and causing havoc with indirect moves like Taunt and Destiny Bond, it can even use Explosion to get rid of special walls. Gengar's a mixed bag that doesn't lose efficiency through spreading out its repertoire and you never know what it's going to do.
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#1 - Tyranitar
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True to its name, there's no question that this is the king of ADV OU. It's got power. It's got a great movepool. It's got a unique typing that offers it a number of key resistances. It's got the Sand Stream ability to hinder Leftovers recovery and screw over Endure strategies. Tyranitar is equipped with many tools to create a successful environment for itself and the team it's integrated to while making life hard for the opposing team. Sure, it has its counters, but with so many viable movesets, it can be as unpredictable as Gengar, and you may just cost yourself a Pokemon just trying to figure out what it's going to do. These factors are one of a few reasons why Dugtrio still has a job.