Gen 3 Breaking Point

Cheryl.

Celesteela is Life
Hi everybody, and welcome to my new RMT. ADV OU's always been one of my favorite tiers, and I've made some pretty cool and fun teams for it. Today I'll be showcasing my favorite team for playing ADV OU, as it's very effective and can take on a good amount of threats through bulk or just through brute force. Welcome to Breaking Point.
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So this team was built from a core of SubPass Jolteon with Choice Band Medicham, based around the premise that Jolteon could pass Subs to Medicham so Cham could break everything behind a Sub safely. Jolteon also helps with faster opponents such as Gengar and checks Electric-types and Water-types.
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Next I wanted a sweeper that could capitalize off of CB Medicham breaking almost every bulky mon in the tier, especially stuff like Swampert. DD Tyranitar fit the bill here, adding a check to Flying and Fire-types and adding a win condition for late-game.
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Metagross was added as another wallpuncher that could also break stuff like Swampert and Suicune. I chose the HP Grass lure set because I didn't like losing 1v1 versus Protect Swampert, and the Leftovers recovery is nice.
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Suicune was added as another win condition or breaker with it's SubCM set, which lets it avoid random Explosions from stuff like Forretress and lets it set up on Blissey. It also adds a check to stuff like Tyranitar and Aerodactyl, which is quite helpful.
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For the last slot, I chose Porygon2 because half my team was getting trapped by Dugtrio and my only reliable answer was Suicune (Jolteon's HP Grass might not kill), so P2 helps by revenging Dugtrio thanks to Trace, and adds a nice check to other stuff like Jolteon due to Trace, while also having reliable recovery.


The Squad:​

Sparks Fly (Jolteon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute
- Baton Pass

Jolteon is the lead for this team, having a good matchup against other leads like Skarmory and Gengar due to being super fast and decently powerful, and having Baton Pass to pivot out of threats like Tyranitar and keep momentum. Thanks to being extremely fast, Jolteon is a great tool in revenge killing threats like a weakened Gengar, and checks Electric-types thanks to Volt Absorb and threatens Suicune, which is great. Jolteon's greatest role on this team is to pass Substitutes to it's teammates, such as Medicham and Tyranitar, for them to be able to break past opponents, but Jolteon is still a valuable member for gaining momentum and pressuring opponents throughout the match.




Break (Medicham) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break
- Shadow Ball
- Rock Slide
- Focus Punch

While an uncommon sight in Gen 3 OU, Medicham is still a really cool and good underrated threat that deserves more love. Holding a Choice Band and having Pure Power as an ability, Medicham is the strongest Pokemon in the tier (Maybe Slaking's stronger, however), making it a great wallbreaker. While having Brick Break as a STAB move might not seem great, it's still very powerful, as Medicham is able to do great damage to bulky threats like uninvested Impish Skarmory, Swampert, and Jirachi. Medicham is actually able to 2HKO pretty much every Pokemon in the tier bar Weezing with one of it's moves, which is fucking insane. Brick Break can even do over 40% to resisted threats like offensive Salamence as well, which is really cool. While most Medichams run Fake Out in the last slot to revenge stuff like Jolteon, I personally think it's a bad option because it leaves Medicham open to stuff after using it and it's weak, so I chose Focus Punch in the last slot to take advantage of switchins and when Cham's under a Sub to nuke everything in Medicham's path. Medicham may be a bit slow and pretty frail, but it's a pretty great Pokemon when supported right.



Reptar (Tyranitar) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 16 HP / 200 Atk / 120 Def / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Bug]

I'm pretty sure we all know what Tyranitar does, and we all know that he's very good at what he does, but yeah, here's Dragon Dance Tyranitar, one of the best sweepers in ADV. TTar capitalizes on Medicham's wallbreaking in order to sweep late-game, and also checks Fire and Flying-types. Basically there's not much to say here, since this set is super standard, but yeah, Tyranitar is definitely a cool part of the team.



X Marks The Spot (Metagross) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Atk / 20 Def / 8 SpA
Brave Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Explosion
- Earthquake

Metagross adds another wallbreaker to the team, and helps add a Rock resist, and another Normal resist, while also being really bulky too. I went with the Hidden Power Grass set over the Choice Band set this time because Protect Swamperts are really annoying to fight, and Tyranitar really wants Swampert weakened at least, so that's why I chose this set. Explosion is still a good tool to break past a ton of shit like non-Sub Suicune and even Skarmory, and Metagross is also a great abuser of Subs from Jolteon as it can switch it's moves freely allowing it to take on more threats, as well as beat stuff like Jirachi and Magneton who think it's locked into Meteor Mash. Overall, Metagross is definitely one of my favorite members of the team.




Lapis (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 192 SpA / 64 Spe
Modest Nature
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Substitute

A Suicune may seem odd on such an offensive team like this one, but Suicune is very important for this team as it adds another win condition, and it's amazing bulk allows it to check threats like Salamence and Aerodactyl. I think the SubCM set is the best one for Suicune in the current metagame, as it allows Suicune to beat threats like non-CM Blissey (Seismic Toss won't break the 101 HP Sub), non-Haze Milotic, and allows Suicune to avoid Explosions from threats like Forretress and Metagross. The increased offensive presence allows Suicune to hit stuff like Tyranitar harder as well, which is useful. Overall Suicune is a very awesome and important member of the team, and I'm glad to have it on here!



Sir Duckington (Porygon2) @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SpA
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Thunder Wave​

As stated in the Teambuilding Process, the team was having trouble with Dugtrio as it could trap Metagross, Tyranitar, and Medicham if it got switched in safely, and I had little to no counterplay to it. Therefore, I added Porygon2, who is able to revenge trap Dugtrio due to Tracing Arena Trap, and P2 isn't useless outside of this, either. It's decent bulk allows it to be a nice soft check to things like Salamence and Aerodactyl, and having reliable recovery allows it to stick around for a while. It's good offensive presence with BoltBeam coverage allows it to threaten a great amount of the tier, especially with Thunder Wave to cripple faster opponents. Overall, Porygon2 is a pretty cool and underrated Pokemon that puts in good work for the team.

Here's the threatlist and importable!​
Heracross: While this team is able to take care of most threats, Heracross is one of the threats that this team has no switchins for. The team has no Bug or Fighting resist, making CB Heracross really dangerous to switch into. Salac Berry Reversal or SD variants are also super annoying to fight against, and the only real counterplay I have for Heracross is to revenge kill it after dealing damage to it, unless it's got a Salac Berry boost, then it's either Suicune or Metagross tank a hit or GG.

Metagross: It's not the biggest threat to the team, but Metagross can put some pressure on the team if used right. While Suicune's a good check to it, especially with Sub, Psychic variants of Metagross can break unboosted Cune's Sub and can break through Porygon2 thanks to using Lum Berry.

Ludicolo: Very uncommon, but Rain Dance Ludicolo is really annoying to fight as it outspeeds everyone on the team and threatens Suicune with Leech Seed or HP Grass, and 2HKOs-OHKOs everyone else with Hydro Pump, and can run Lum Berry to bypass TWaves from P2. Good thing it's not common.


Sparks Fly (Jolteon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Substitute
- Baton Pass

Break (Medicham) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break
- Shadow Ball
- Rock Slide
- Focus Punch

Reptar (Tyranitar) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 16 HP / 200 Atk / 120 Def / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Bug]

X Marks The Spot (Metagross) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Atk / 20 Def / 8 SpA
Brave Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Explosion
- Earthquake

Lapis (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 192 SpA / 64 Spe
Modest Nature
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Substitute

Sir Duckington (Porygon2) @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SpA
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Thunder Wave


Overall, this has been a really fun team to use, and while it may use some improvements, it's still a pretty solid offensive team overall in my opinion! ADV OU has been a really fun tier to play, and I want to shoutout the Old Gens room for their knowledge and roomtours for ADV OU too! And as always...

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Keep on Dancing
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Hi Cheryl,

I like the offensive engine of the team, P2 + DD Tyranitar + Grass Metagross is really cool and something I've tried myself. Your threatlist though I think misses some key builds in favor of single mon threats, which I find is not the exact way that ADV works. In later gens, it is more common to be weak to an individual mon, but in RSE I find that you need to check certain cores or playstyles as the opponent will often be attempting to advance their own agenda through the use of synergistic mons rather than the ORAS style of "find an opening for ZardX to DD, then sweep".

The one that I think your team would have the most trouble with is one of the more classic builds in Spikes + DD Tyranitar, particularly SkarmBliss teams with Tyranitar as a cleaner. Let me write out the reasons I think the team is weak to this build:

  • No spike removal which punishes HARD your team attempting to pivot around threats (Aero, Tyranitar, Gengar)
    • On the positive side though, the tiers common spikers have a difficult time finding ultra free chances to set them up - Skarm can aim at choice locked Medicham or threaten your Tar with a Toxic to grab a spike on the switch, Cloyster finds it almost impossible but vs Suicune, Forretress maybe the easiest I suppose vs P2 but overall you pressure them decently well
  • No spikes of your own, defensive teams can pivot almost infinitely around should they need, with only really Suicune being a major "threat"
    • This is a way worse problem IMO - vs the classic SkarmPertBliss core you are basically going to struggle a TON to actually break through with straight offensive pressure. When Pert isn't the necessary 100% switchin to Metagross (a good player will scout a lefties Metagross for HP Grass) then you lose a lot of breaking power. Cune will struggle against these teams because, on its own, Suicune can't break it with the set that you have so it either Toxics or CMs in the face of a good few of your mons
  • Strong choice banders will make you sac almost instantly -> you CANNOT bring in Suicune on spikes + sand + CB Flygon EQ and expect to get away with it. This makes the backbone of your team pretty useless, pretty quickly and you lack appropriate revenge kill options
One other issue I had with the team is the lack of a really dedicated rock resist. Yes, yes, you have Metagross - but the instant that it is trapped you are a bit fucked. Nevermind Rock Ground Tyranitar + spikes, which makes Metagross shaky from the get-go. Some players don't see this as a huge issue and won't run a bulky mon that either resists or is neutral to Aero/Tar coverage, but it's something that really irks me building-wise, because too many games are lost from Rock Slide flinches. I understand wanting to remain offensive, but in ADV I really think an ultra-sturdy rock resist is pretty key.

I'll edit in set suggestions later on, it'll take some time for me to think how best to tweak the team while leaving the cool offensive core intact. But these are things I think you should be aware of going into games. I'm sure you have developed some habits to fight back against them, but personally I think making sure some key boxes are ticked in the teambuilding stage gives way more room for creative and inventive play in-game as you move further up the ranks.
 
Hey Cheryl!

Nice offense you seem to have built here. I actually have a really similar build to this so I just want to recommend some tweaks that might help you in the long run!

For a lot of offense a major thorn in the side can be Gengar which can spread burns, and cripple your wincons; You're running Metagross+Tyranitar so something that occurred to me is running like Lum Berry Psychic+Pursuit Gross. HP:Grass with no investment doesn't do to too much to Swampert, so running this admittedly weird set helps remove Gengar which seems like it can be a thorn in your side; especially since your offense doesn't have something like CB Aero that can double in on Gengar and severely pressure it.

Another thing that I want to say is that running Offensive Suicune here definitely makes you more vulnerable to Aerodactyl/Tyranitar so running Swampert here is another thing you can look into.

Dugtrio isn't TOO much of a problem for you considering that its limited to at most one kill in any given circumstance. I want to note that your team is actually a tad weak to Raikou which is something that you actually omitted in your explanation of the team.

You definitely struggle versus the standard Spike+Bliss+Ghost cores that are common in this gen though to be honest. On my version I use MixMence+PursuitGross to attempt to pressure these kinds of builds. Its difficult to make a squad even in this generation though that account for every possible problem sadly.

My version doesn't struggle as much with stuff like Ludicolo, and has an emergency button to setup sweepers in the form of CurseBoom Lax; which also adds another member that limits Skarmory to one layer at most, but if you opt to run this over>P2; then you should probably go for MixMence>Tar or something, to limit the harm Dugtrio can do to your team.

I would say add a spiker/removal(possibly forretress somewhere?) but then you'd have to remove something from the team which isn't really something I want to do. I feel like one of the most obvious changes is definitely Pert>Cune; and then work from there on the basis of w/e you're having trouble with. I do think that one of Tyranitar/Metagross should be a Pursuit variant though, to remove the option of a ghost type helping a team to pivot around a major threat.

You have the tools I think to stop Forry/Skarm from Spiking up on you, but if they ever get more than two layers, you're kind of screwed;HP:Fire is another option on Metagross to be honest but at that point you're relying Metagross to lure/remove too many things. Scouting also looks like a must here considering how much some of your members, get cripple by status when it comes to checking things; especially P2/Swampert.

Also I'd recommend a more defensive Porygon2 spread probably. Fun looking team though; I'll edit if any other points hit me.
 

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