Gen 3 Grovyle Offense (ADV PU 1K RMT)

[Aaronboyer]

Grovyle Offense (ADV PU)

Introduction​

The premise behind this team originated several months ago after a set of new tier changes for ADV PU were released. Several toys such as Lairon, Seviper, and Wartortle were newly introduced to the metagame while fan favorites such as Furret, Machoke, and Charmeleon made their welcome return after more than a year since they left. Everyone in the PU Community also knew some sort of PU Old Gens tour was coming up, which would later be revealed to be the PU Mini Classic, so it was off to the races teambuilding-wise for Gens 3-6. Now, despite the couple of months gap between the most recent ADV tier shift and the PU Mini Classic, not much ADV PU activity was going on. The occasional game or two that was played with these new drops showcased how incredibly strong Machoke, Seviper, and Baton Pass was. The former two Pokemon ended up being quickbanned, while Baton Pass was allowed to stay. Knowing this, I wanted to build a team that would capitalize on Baton Pass without it being the dedicated strategy. Too often I've seen teams that focused on Baton Pass such as SubAgility Minun to Clamperl that wasn't very consistent, so I also wanted to make sure this team was consistent as well. After discovering and falling in love with one of our new drops, Grovyle, I am happy to present hyper offensive team that showcases the pure, brute strength that is Double Petaya Berry.

The Team

Furret @ Choice Band
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Shadow Ball
- Brick Break
- Quick Attack
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Furret is one of the most utilized and popular leads in ADV PU by virtue of its perfect neutral coverage and fantastic Speed tier, threatening teams right from the get go. Furret also has a fantastic matchup against all other common leads and outspeeds them all bar opposing Minun. The Furret vs. Furret matchup is a little shaky, but from what I have tended to notice was that the opponent would always go for Double-Edge, Brick Break, or switch out not wanting to risk the Speed tie, meaning Gastly is for the most part a safe switch-in. Early- to mid-game Furret does a fantastic job of breaking down teams, and late-game Quick Attack is extremely useful for picking off Dragon Dance Dragonair and Substitute / Endure + Reversal Pokemon such as Yanma. Overall, Furret is a solid lead and breaker that helps its teammates wear down the opposition.

Minun @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Minus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Baton Pass
- Substitute
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Minun shares several key attributes with Furret. It's the best and most widely used Pokemon for its role (in this case a Baton Pass user), it has perfect neutral coverage (in this case Thunderbolt + Hidden Power Ice), and it sits at an incredibly high Speed tier. While it too can be utilized the break things mid-game, Minun also seizes every opportunity and free turn it gets to Substitute down to its Petaya Berry so that it can pass the Special Attack boost to a teammate. Minun is more than capable of utilizing the Special Attack boost itself though and its fairly hard to revenge kill once everything on the opposing side is weakened bar the rare priority move user. In replays you'll also see that Minun is my blanket check for special attackers if I really need a Pokemon to switch into something such as Agility + 3 Attack Dragonair. I wanted to also try to fit Agility somewhere in Minun's moveset, but there just wasn't room as I didn't want to delegate Minun to just a Baton Passing role.

Grovyle @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Leaf Blade
- Crunch
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Ice]
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Grovyle is an extremely scary threat to face and is most certainly a Top 3 Pokemon in my opinion for the absurd combination of its nearly unresisted coverage, Speed tier that puts it on par with Minun and +0 Yanma, and its monstrous 85 Special Attack. Only two Pokemon in the tier resist Leaf Blade, Crunch, and Hidden Power Ice, those being Houndour which gets 2HKOed at +1 and Combusken which has severely fallen off as of lately. Crunch might not make much sense at first, but it makes Grovyle unwalled by Shedinja and also allows it to break through Duskull and Drowzee. Grovyle is the primary recipient of Minun's Baton Pass, and if Grovyle can get to +2, it's practically game over. Overall its just a stupid Pokemon to face right now and I adore it so much.

Sealeo @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
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I started to notice that my team was lacking any answers to Dragon Dance Dragonair so I chose Sealeo to keep it in check. Sealeo ended up being the only Pokemon on this team chosen for its defensive capabilities, but I still think it fits quite nicely and gives my team a physical blanket check. Sealeo also gave my team an Ice-resist which was desperately needed. (Everyone knows how much I love Thick Fat Pokemon...) There isn't much to say, probably because I treat Sealeo more as an emergency check than anything else.

Gastly @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Psychic
- Destiny Bond
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My matchup against Furret and other fast Normal-types was really poor up to this point outside of just revenge killing them, so I decided to add Gastly. In Furret vs. Furret matchups I like having the option to be able to switch into a Choice Banded Double-Edge or Brick Break and force my opponent to switch out. Gastly is also immensely strong as has several coverage options. I just went with Thunderbolt + Hidden Power Ice because its unresisted and Psychic to deal a little bit more to Specially Defensive Ivysaur. Destiny Bond is my favorite move on this set, however, because allows Gastly to trade off with Houndour 1v1 every time, which gives a little breathing room for Grovyle as it wouldn't necessarily need to get to Petaya Berry activation anymore.

Yanma @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Reversal
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Protect
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Lastly, what ADV PU Hyper Offense team wouldn't have their own Substitute / Endure + Reversal user? This is the most innovative of all the sets on this team, as most sets opt for a Jolly nature and Shadow Ball or Toxic over Protect. However, I never felt like I ended up clicking those buttons at all so I swapped it out for Protect and went with an Adamant nature instead. Protect guarantees Yanma a free Speed Boost, which always means I'm going to be outspeeding the opposition anyways, and Adamant further boosts Yanma's damage output. The only real significance I've found over opting for Adamant was that Yanma vs Yanma you aren't able to Speed tie, but those situations are incredibly rare. Anyways, Substitute down to the activation Yanma's Liechi Berry and spam Reversal. Try to break past Pokemon such as Duskull and Shuckle before hand and you'll be set.

Threat List

Dragonair is extremely threatening if it boosts with Dragon Dance after Sealeo has been eliminated or crippled, or conversly if its sets up an Agility after Minun has been eliminated or crippled. Quick Attack from Choice Band Furret is really more only out and that only works if Dragonair is at 30ish percent. You may have noticed I have Ice Beam and Hidden Power Ice on four of my six Pokemon to try to offensively pressure and prevent Dragonair from setting up at all. Shedinja also notably walls 4 Pokemon on my team: Minun, Sealeo, Gastly, and Furret after Shedinja uses Protect to scout what I am going to lock Furret into. Playing smart around Shedinja and preserving Yanma and Grovyle are the keys to winning the matchup. Choice Band Marshtomp's Rock Slide does a number to the team and I have no defensive switch-ins. Basically you have to sack something every single time and it usually picks up 1-2 kills per game. Spikes + Priority are also extremely threatening, as only two Pokemon on my team carry Leftovers, meaning my team gets chipped away at fairly easily.

Conclusion / Shoutouts
It's been one wild ride the last 2+ years I've been on Smogon and part of the PU Community (1 year for ZU and Scrabble Communities). I am extremely blessed to be surrounded by an online family which I've come to know and love these past few years, and I hope and plan on stay for several more years to come. In the meantime, give Old Gens a try. Not necessarily referring to just ADV PU, or even PU Old Gens, but just Old Gens in general. Competitive Pokemon was a simpler time all those years ago, and its relaxing to take a break from all the hustle and bustle of Current Gen events to stop and try something new. I'm not one to give person-specific shoutouts with tags, but those individuals who I talk to everyday, who I work alongside, who I test teams and play games with at 3am, and you know who you are, you guys have not only made me a better person, but a better friend, thank you! To the PU Community: I still don't know why you guys took me in, but you did, and over the last two years you've afforded me with numerous opportunities I can't begin to repay. To the ZU Community: We've made leaps and bounds within the last year, but we haven't reached our goal yet. Never let go of your boundless spirit, and never give up. Our time to shine will happen, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday, I know we will. To the Scrabble Community: I know its hard to not feel discouraged. I know its hard to hit your head against the wall and have no idea what to do next. But we've got to rebound from this. And it's not we've got to, it's we're going to. I know, because I know who we are, I know where we want to be, and I know someday we'll get back there. Thanks again for the fantastic time you all have given me on PS and Discord and Smogon.

Importable

Replays
(vs Berlin Ursaring was RoA Sunday Spotlight #67 Room Tour Finals and vs Manyy was g1 r4 of the Mini PU Classic)
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[Akir]

Hello there!

Personally I think that the final adjustment to Gen3 PU was definitely a good one in my opinion, as teams are now a lot more dynamic offensively and this team is a good example of it. Grovyle is also a mon that hasn't been explored that much, so to see it in a team that has been successful is also a lot of fun. This team is definitely one that I think will be one of the ones that shapes the new metagame (for a lot of reasons, accessibility being a primary one), but thats not to say it doesn't have room for improvement. Here is my suggestion:

Vibrava > Yanma

The Set

Vibrava @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Quick Attack
- Toxic / Protect

You yourself seem to not have much idea as to why Yanma is on the team. It doesn't add much in terms of support or synergy, and the main reason stated is "what ADV PU Hyper Offense team wouldn't have their own Substitute / Endure + Reversal user?" which doesn't hit me as a particularly strong reason. I definitely see the value of having a strong lategame sweeper to fall back on, but in my opinion Grovyle (and Minun to a degree) is fast enough as is while pulling a very similar set to work in the same role.

I would rather have Vibrava for the consistency that the mon brings to the team. You mention that CB Marsh with Rock Slide does a number on the team, and Vibrava would be a good check to that. Vibrava also adds a Ground immunity to help with the Spikestack matchup and beat Marsh more, and runs Toxic to get chip on defensive switchins and still checking Shedinja. Quick Attack is also plastered on to give you a better matchup against opposing Yanma as well, so you aren't overly-reliant on offensive pressure and Furret. Protect is also a good option for scouting CB mons.

Overall this team has definitely earned its success, but I think running Vibrava over Yanma would add a layer of consistency and synergy that would really help the team flourish into the future of the format.