A Step Back: The Advance Metagame

If I had to pick two generations that had the least differences between them, it would probably be Advance and DP. The biggest mechanical change was probably the new physical/special split: while in DP, it's the move that determines whether a physical or special attack, in Advance the only factor needed to determine this was its type. All you need to know is that all types from Eeveelutions in addition to Dragon are special, while every other type is physical. While that may seem like a large difference, it is nothing compared to GSC splitting RBY's Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense, or Advance exchanging the Stat EXP system for EVs, which dropped a Pokemon's amount of maxed out stats from six to two.

Therefore, DP players who never touched Advance before will likely find it easier to pick up than other generations. Many Pokémon play in a very similar way, with only a few key differences. Some things you won't find in Advance that pretty much shaped DP are Draco Meteor, Toxic Spikes, Stealth Rock, U-turn, Choice Scarf, Choice Specs, Shed Shell, and the boost to a Rock-type's Special Defense in Sand Stream. In addition, Outrage only has 90 Base Power (and isn't boosted by Dragon Dance due to its typing, odd as that may be). All in all, Advance is quite a bit more calm than DP, with a little more room for mistakes. There's simply a lot less options available, both Pokémon-wise and move-wise, so you will roughly know what to expect.

I'll walk you through the most used Advance Pokémon, explaining how they're usually played out. I'll often do comparisons to their DP incarnations when applicable, as most people reading this will be familiar with that. If you're new to battling in general and want to try out Advance play, I would recommend you read our Advance Pokémon Analyses.

Advance Metagame: The Threats

To understand what you can use and face, you have to know what each Pokémon can do. It's impossible to simply explain how the game works in a vacuum: it's more of a jigsaw puzzle with numerous pieces, some larger than others.

We don't have usage stats for any medium that allows Advance battling, so I'll just run through the OU tier in alphabetical order. Keep in mind that the OU list of Advance isn't done by the formula, but rather simply from intuition. The tiering process of DP wasn't present in Advance at all. Therefore, some of the Pokémon listed here aren't actually that common at all.

Aerodactyl

Most DP players will know Aerodactyl as the lead with the most control over Stealth Rock, both in laying it down and preventing it. Many games have the Aerodactyl user end up at a 5-6 disadvantage without it firing off any attack at all, just for that Stealth Rock advantage.

Advance doesn't have Stealth Rock, so Aerodactyl is usually a full time sweeper, most often seen with a Choice Band. The lack of Choice Scarf gives the Aerodactyl user the comfort that it will outspeed everything that hasn't boosted its speed during the battle, barring Ninjask, Electrode and a speed tie with Crobat and Jolteon (and only the latter is really an issue in standard play). Aerodactyl can only switch in on a select few Pokémon without requiring prediction, the most common ones being Gyarados, which is usually stuck with Hidden Power Flying (which, remember, is physical) and Earthquake. Salamence can sometimes be an opportunity as well, though a +1 Rock Slide will spell Aerodactyl's demise, so a tad of prediction is required. Once Aerodactyl is in, hopefully with little damage taken, it's time to see how well you read your opponent. There's few Pokémon that can take more well-predicted hits of Rock Slides, Earthquakes, Hidden Power Flying and Double-Edge, which might not sound impressive to the DP players here, but it's definitely noteworthy for this generation. Generally, the best switches into Aerodactyl are those that resist as many of its moves as possible. Skarmory isn't weak to any of them, and the biggest risk for it is a Rock Slide that will do something between 30% and 40%. Skarmory can be flinched to death, however, and usually isn't able to retaliate effectively, which is why you should also be ready to switch in Metagross, or the failsafe bulky Water. The real threat of Aerodactyl is lategame, where it can reasonably be in near perfect shape thanks to its immunity to Spikes and Sandstream, unlike that Suicune that took damage from Spikes, Sand Stream and repeated attacks.

Blaziken

Blaziken is relegated to UU in DP, thanks to its middling Speed and the presence of a better alternative in Infernape.

But even in Advance, Blaziken isn't a Pokémon you will see often. It's suspectible to both Spikes and Sand Stream, and if it's not going down in two hits, it's going down in one. Bringing in Blaziken requires prediction (or sacrificing, but this is a much bigger deal in Advance than in DP), and then getting the right attack off even more. Its typing is made for it to be an anti-standard, getting on the nerves of Steels, Weezing, Tyranitar, Blissey and Snorlax, but on the other side of the coin, it struggles against Waters as well as Salamence. Between Fighting and Fire STABs, ThunderPunch and Hidden Power Grass/Ice, it can theoretically threaten all of these, though often it needs a Choice Band to actually get a 2HKO. It's a Pokémon that's going to open up the game if it's on either team, that's for sure, but the question is which side.

Blissey

There's no surprises here: Blissey takes hits from the Special side of the spectrum, and does it extremely well. With no Choice Specs, U-turn, Toxic Spikes or Nasty Plot/Life Orb Porygon-Z with Hyper Beam (just kidding about that last one), it can be safely said that Blissey has nothing to fear when switching right into a Special attacker.

Blissey on its own causes the game to be mostly dominated by physical attackers. One-trick ponies such as Raikou become obsolete as long as Blissey is alive, which is why the only Special attackers are the ones that have ways to function even with Blissey in play. Starmie still does its job as a Rapid Spinner, and can engage in a stall war with Recover if it has to. Jolteon can pass a Substitute. Zapdos can use Pressure and Rest to stall. Gengar has Focus Punch or Explosion. Celebi has Natural Cure, Leech Seed and Recover. Suicune generally comes out on top with Calm Mind, Pressure and Rest. Jirachi usually wins with Calm Mind and either 101 HP substitutes or Wish.

As you would expect, Blissey is a keystone in stall teams. Its biggest fear is being taken by surprise: Gengar's Explosion can be a good way to take it out. Dugtrio vs Blissey is an interesting match-up. Adamant Choice Band Dugtrio will almost always 2HKO Bold max HP/Def Blissey, with Sand Stream removing that almost from the equation. Modest max SpA Blissey can't OHKO Dugtrio with Ice Beam. However, Blissey can come out on top if it Toxics Dugtrio on the switch, as then it can Softboil off the damage, perhaps finishing Dugtrio with Ice Beam once it's taken some damage, and all Dugtrio can do in this scenario is wait for the CH Earthquake. Jolly Dugtrio has a harder time 2HKOing Blissey, but if it doesn't get Toxiced, it will often be able to get a CH in on Blissey, who has to Softboil pretty much every turn. Why am I giving this situation so much attention? Because the Dugtrio trap on Blissey can be the way for a team to break open the game for a Special attacker, or just to break stall.

Breloom

While not on Smogon's current ADV OU list, I threw Breloom into this analysis at my own leisure. Breloom got one of the largest boosts of all Pokémon between Advance and DP, with access to physical Grass moves, and the combination of Toxic Orb/Poison Heal that allows it to absorb status and actually get a positive recovery balance even in damaging weather conditions (something only the likes of Clefable can brag).

But the core of Breloom's use, Spore and a STAB 394 max Attack Focus Punch, has been around ever since the mushroom entered competitive play. It's riskier than usual to try and absorb that Breloom Spore with something that doesn't matter, since it might end up using Substitute on the switch. Such a mistake can get it two free shots rather than one, if it gets to Spore a slower Pokémon behind the Substitute. Even more scary is the fact that Breloom cannot be Intimidated behind that Substitute. It's not unusual for Breloom to sleep one Pokémon and bring a Salamence down to half health. Sadly, it has no access to Stone Edge (or any Rock move other than Hidden Power, for that matter) in this generation, and aside from Fighting moves Breloom has to make do with Leech Seed and Hidden Power Ghost. Gengar with Ice Punch (or Fire Punch) can be quite a relief to switch in after the Spore. That is, if it can avoid being hit by Hidden Power Ghost.

Breloom is easy to do its intitial trick with, but beyond the Spore/Focus Punch combination (sometimes with the Substitute inbetween), it actually offers little. With Sleep Clause in effect, Breloom is a defensive liability that has a hard time getting attacks in due to Focus Punch and its unreliability. A Spore/Substitute/Focus Punch/Hidden Power Ghost Breloom that activates Sleep Clause can't even come out on top against Blissey and Snorlax as long as they keep attacking. That's why some players use Mach Punch, Sky Uppercut or Leech Seed on it to keep it from being a one-trick pony. But that one trick can be devastating to a team's defensive core, so don't handwave the threat that is Breloom.

Celebi

Believe it or not, Celebi started out banned in the Advance metagame (back when it was held on the IRC-based RS Bots). When the NetBattle crowd unbanned it (along with its partner in crime, Jirachi), this was a major breakpoint between the two communities. This might be hard to imagine for DP players, where Pursuit runs off physical attack and it's generally easier to break through Celebi's 100/100/100 defenses, Natural Cure and Recover simply because every turn has more residual and direct damage.

But back in Advance, Celebi stands strong as a defensive monster. Three of the most common Special threats, Gengar, Zapdos and Jolteon, are unable to do more than around 30-40% to Celebi with Hidden Power Ice (Gengar and Zapdos both have SE STAB options, but they run off their inferior Attack stat). Bulky Waters with Ice Beam aren't doing much better. In the meanwhile, when Celebi isn't Recovering to shrug off a hit, it can Calm Mind up for a sweep or a Baton Pass, or alternatively Swords Dance. Or heal its teammates with Heal Bell, or perhaps put down some Leech Seed. Despite the lack of Thunder Wave and Trick, Celebi does a great job of disruption and stalling, and oftentimes one surprise Swords Dance is what it needs to assist Salamence or Metagross in taking down two opposing Pokémon. Depending on the set, Skarmory, Metagross, Tyranitar, Gyarados and Salamence can threaten Celebi, and with some careful switching it isn't very hard to find out its set. Generally the best initial switch is Skarmory, because barring a Calm Minded Hidden Power Fire, or an immediate switch to Magneton, there's not much that can go wrong, whereas all the others risk the faster Swords Dance Pass. If it turns out Skarmory won't have to Whirlwind it immediatly, it can get some work done in the Spikes department.

Claydol

Just like Celebi, Claydol suffered from the large nerf Psychic-types got in DP (or rather, the boost their worst enemies got), but in this generation there is no U-turn, no Special Shadow Ball and no physical Pursuit, so Claydol does just fine at staying alive until that unavoidable Explosion.

However, it keeps the problem of having possibly the worst offense in all of OU, competing with the likes of Forretress. It will run out of PP before it ever takes out anything it doesn't hit for a quadruple weakness, and that's why Claydol should focus on its walling capabilities, and more importantly its ability to Rapid Spin. Claydol is the only Rapid Spinner that isn't hit by Spikes (Delibird who?), and one of the three Pokémon that resists the combination of Earthquake/Rock Slide (the other ones being Breloom and Flygon). While this once made him a great Tyranitar switch-in, the discovery of Boah (with Crunch running off its Special Attack) made him less of a failsafe. However, add the QuakeSlide resist to its resistance to Fighting and it makes for quite a good physical block, very complimentary to a Steel like Skarmory (and together they form a great utility duo as well, having Spikes, Rapid Spin and Whirlwind covered). As long as you don't expose him to neutral attacks too often, Claydol will be there for you to catch strong Fighting attacks from the rogue Breloom, Blaziken or Medicham you will face once in a while. Its Electric immunity is less spectacular considering its weakness to both Hidden Power Grass and Hidden Power Ice, and inability to scare Zapdos, but sometimes it can form a check for Magneton or Jolteon.

Claydol works best in stall teams that need the most reliable Rapid Spin there is. It's not going to scare anything other than with a super effective Earthquake or Ice Beam, a surprise Toxic or that nasty Explosion, but it gets the job done. Unless there's a Gengar or Dusclops blocking its Rapid Spins...then it's really up the creek without a paddle.

Donphan

DP Donphan has long fallen off the OU radar, instead appearing as a solid UU bulky Ground type. It was actually hyped a bit in early DP because of its ability to learn Ice Shard while also surviving most Garchomp assaults...but due to its lack of STAB, and later the lack of Garchomp, it really wasn't enough. Was it any better in Advance?

As another Ground-type Rapid Spinner. Donphan achieved some fame in Advance for being a Rapid Spinner with actual meat behind its attacks. With 120 Atk and STAB on Earthquake, Donphan could hurt Dusclops (the most defensive Ghost, and thus the best Spinblocker for stall teams) where Claydol cannot. Unfortunately, this is where Donphan's "superb" offense ends. It needs defensive investment to stay alive against the likes of Salamence and Metagross due to its lack of resistances (it resists Tyranitar and Aerodactyl's Rock Slides, and that's about it). This bland typing combines badly with the damage it takes from Spikes and its lack of recovery. Donphan is one of these Pokémon people refer to when they say "late-game, when your opponent's team is weakened...". Donphan is easy to wear down, and once its health goes below the 50%, its speed and lack of attacking versatility makes it dead weight. Choice Band makes Donphan a tad more dangerous in the offensive department, but costs it its only means of recovery.

Dragonite

Dragonite is a hot topic in DP right now, with Garchomp banned and Salamence being under the Council's judgement at the moment of writing this. It's never had much over Salamence to begin with, and that large speed deficit has shown it to be a much more mediocre sweeper than its rival.

Salamence joined the fray in Advance, so it should come as no surprise that Dragonite was in an underdog position in this generation as well. The most common movesets were SubPunch ones. Substitute, Focus Punch, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt hits a large amount of OU for super effective damage, though as we've seen with Electivire in DP, that isn't always enough. Especially not if your typing (and lack of Intimidate) allows you to substitute up against very little, and your speed just isn't up to par. Dragonite's best bet of coming in is probably an opponent locked in Earthquake (which is harder than it sounds, because most things with Choice Banded Earthquakes also have moves that take a good 70% off Dragonite's health, or more). Alternatively, it can switch into Skarmory, probably allowing it to get one set of Spikes. Anticipate the switch out of Thunderbolt and get your Substitute up. And then it generally does like 50% to anything that switches in, and if you're lucky it's not something like Celebi that's going to Recover it off later.

The alternative here is Choice Band Dragonite. It certainly had the versatility, but it's also having a hard time distinguishing itself from the faster Salamence. It did hit bulky Waters very hard with a Choice Band Focus Punch, at the very least. Note that Advance Dragonite does not have access to Extremespeed.

Dugtrio

DP Dugtrio is in UU and rocking, taking out practically everything at lower health. It failed in OU, unable to be part of a defensive core, and facing the dilemma of being Choiced (and thus easily revenged or set up on) or being too weak to kill several key threats in one hit.

I've already mentioned Dugtrio for Advance play, and more than just in passing. Just from the above, Dugtrio is able to trap and kill Blaziken, Blissey and Celebi, and there's many more to come. The ability to kill something with a guarantee is a great trade-off for Dugtrio's vulnerability. Even if you end up facing a Salamence after you Earthquaked a Blissey into oblivion, you can generally get away with a switch to your bulky Water. This isn't DP where you're in danger of having 90% of your health taken away by Draco Meteor. Dugtrio makes for a legit partner to Skarmory, being able to take out Magneton with a clever double switch, or at worst, being able to avenge its trapped and fallen team mate. Normally threatening Pokémon such as Raikou, Jirachi and Celebi are afraid to switch in and play offensively if they know the opponent could be carrying Dugtrio.

Dusclops

Dusclops evolved in the latest generation, though it's really more of an upgraded version of its old self than a new Pokémon, with no real change to the movepool and stat proportions. And that wasn't enough to save it from the Pursuit-ridden metagame, especially since this Ghost missed out on Levitate.

In Advance, however, Dusclops is not to be underestimated. It's basically one of your two viable Ghost options, and the other one, Gengar, is more offensively inclined. Dusclops is made for stall teams, with its great defenses and Pain Split (or Rest) keeping Claydol, Donphan and Starmie from killing it and spinning off the Spikes. Of course, its extremely low speed and HP mean Dusclops has to recover its health quite often. Dusclops has a nice synergy with a Wishing Blissey. Wish on the switch to a powerful Fighter like Heracross, then switch in your Dusclops and restore 50%.

Dusclops' attacking arsenal is modest. Like Claydol, it relies on being super effective or status effects to do any notable damage. Between Shadow Ball and Will-O-Wisp, Dusclops scares off all three of OU's Rapid Spinners, and also makes opponents think about when to send in that Tyranitar or Gyarados to set up on him. To give you an idea of how weak Dusclops is, it needs some attack investment to OHKO Alakzam with its STAB (physical) Shadow Ball. Not much, around 40 EVs is enough, but still. If status or type advantage isn't enough to win the match with Dusclops, it makes for a splendid abuser of Pressure, with many Pokémon only carrying one or two moves that actually hurt it. Substitute and Protect are both viable moves to throw in an empty slot, or alternatively, it can use Rest/Sleep Talk effectively.

Flygon

We haven't seen much of Flygon in DP until Garchomp was thrown out, and on the Salamence Suspect Ladder it's proving to be threat as well. Not very surprising: Dragon/Ground with Levitate is a great typing, both offensively and defensively, and it makes for a great keeper of momentum with Choice Scarfed U-turn.

Unfortunately, both of these assets are not available in Advance, nor are Life Orb and Roost. So what makes Flygon a OU candidate? First off, just like Aerodactyl, it's fast and strong, and it's immune to Spikes and Sand Stream, making it a great lategame cleaner. Both Choice Band and Substitute are useful, the former wearing things down more quickly (especially bulky Waters), the latter being more versatile and harder to switch around. Flygon and Swampert work very well together despite the lack of weaknesses being covered. The first reason for this is that an Electric can only carry one type of Hidden Power (be it Ice or Grass), so the combination of these two checks enemies such as Raikou and Jolteon well. Zapdos too, to an extent, but Swampert has enormous issues defeating a Zapdos with Light Screen and/or Rest. They are also probably the best overall Tyranitar counters. Tyranitar is capable of hitting almost everything super effective, and these two are no exception, but you will rarely if ever see a Tyranitar with both Hidden Power Grass and Ice Beam (and if you do, you're bound to be able to beat it with another team member).

Aside from all that, Flygon's coverage with Earthquake and Rock Slide is decent, and the mere option of Fire Blast means Skarmory users have to be careful before they start unloading Spikes. Flygon fits nicely into almost any team that doesn't already have Salamence, providing that bit of extra punch while also bringing resistances to the table, unlike, say, Blaziken or Raikou.

Forretress

Forretress is probably best known as the master of everything that has to do with entry hazards. It can lay down every single form of it and Rapid Spin it away. It usually competes for a team slot with Skarmory, and they have very similar roles with some key differences. Forretress only has one severe weakness while Skarmory has two less severe ones, Forretress Rapid Spins and Explodes while Skarmory Whirlwinds and Roosts, and of course, Forretress is on the ground while Skarmory flies.

In Advance, there is no Toxic Spikes or Stealth Rock to lay or remove for Forretress, but the rest of it is very similar. It lacks Payback and Gyro Ball in this generation, which limits its offense to Earthquake and Explosion. As you can imagine, this makes Forretress bait for set-up on numerous Pokémon, especially if it doesn't want to or can't Explode (and let's not mention Gengar). Just like Claydol, it's in major trouble if its Rapid Spins are blocked by Ghosts. But still, Forretress carries key resistances and even more physical durability than Skarmory, so it will usually find the time to lay down those Spikes. It's slightly better at dealing with Magneton: without Hidden Power Fire, Magneton can't OHKO it, while Forretress can OHKO it with Earthquake, or lay down an extra layer.

Gengar

Gengar has been OU in every generation so far, and its face changes slightly in every single one. DP Gengar is a force to be reckoned with, having perfect coverage between Shadow Ball and Focus Blast, and a great movepool/set variety. Pain Split, Hypnosis, Substitute and various sorts of Hidden Power is what usually rounds out Gengar today, be it with Leftovers, Choice Scarf or Life Orb.

In this generation, it needs to use its pitful Attack stat to make use of its STAB, which is possible but not as efficient as sticking with Thunderbolt and the special Ice Punch. Pursuit is almost a non-issue in this generation, pretty much only being found on Tyranitar (who has 20 other moves to consider) and Houndoom (who is uncommon). Therefore, Gengar will only really have to be careful on its way in, and no longer on its way out. With plenty of Pokémon locking themselves into moves that don't hurt him at all, or not much, Gengar often finds free turns to be threatening. Gengar is one of these Pokémon you need to find the set of before you know what to switch into it...if you even have something. It's usually a case of "if it doesn't have X, then I can use Y", and a few clever double switches can find it out relatively easily. For example, Swampert doesn't take much damage from anything but Giga Drain, but if it does have Giga Drain it nearly gets OHKO'd (though at least you can use a Torrented Water move in return, likely OHKOing it back). Gengar is the main reason Blissey carries Ice Beam on stall teams, as Substitute and Focus Punch disposes of it rather easily otherwise.

Either way, unless it switches into an unexpected physical assault, Gengar generally takes at least one opponent with him through Explosion, Destiny Bond or sheer force. It might not have good STAB attacks but it has killer speed and versatility.

Gyarados

Gyarados seems to have its effectiveness changed vastly with every generation jump. DP Gyarados has all the makings of a great physical sweeper, with Dragon Dance, Waterfall, Earthquake, Stone Edge and Taunt as its main sweeping moves, occasionally using Thunder Wave or Rest/Sleep Talk/Roar sets. It does have the crippling flaw of Stealth Rock and average speed, which reduce the usefulness of Intimidate and its great bulk enormously and make it almost as much of a one-shot sweeper as Salamence.

In Advance, there's no Stealth Rock, so Gyarados has an enormous lifespan. However, so do its opponents, as it lacks both Waterfall and Stone Edge, which have enormous consequences for its versatility. Gyarados now needs to use Hidden Power Flying for STAB, and Earthquake is pretty much its only reasonable secondary attack. Flying/Ground is not bad per sé, but it does a very poor job of handling Zapdos, Skarmory, and even Aerodactyl. Exchanging Hidden Power Flying for Hidden Power Rock makes it more threatening, but then it runs into issues against Celebi, Gengar, Claydol, Weezing. Taunt allows it to set up on bulky Waters at the very least, but still doesn't allow it to beat Weezing or Skarmory unless they opted for a non-attacking set. So basically, Gyarados is going to be able to attack more often, but do less damage. Still a force to be reckoned with, though.

Heracross

This fellow got hyped in early DP for its access to Choice Scarf and Close Combat, but ended up with the likes of Slowbro, Cresselia and Electivire in the "just not good enough" category. The prevalence of Gliscor, Skarmory, Salamence and Rotom-A just seems to be a little too much for it, though there are strategies known to bypass at least some of these counters. However, these cannot be executed with a Choice Scarf Heracross, which makes it an easily revenged Fighter with mediocre durability, in a sea of powerful threatening combatants from the same school, such as Infernape and Machamp.

Heracross can spar with the big boys in Advance, even though it runs into many of the same problems. A bit like Blaziken, but with both more power and switch-in opportunities. Heracross isn't afraid of taking one or two Surfs from the likes of Milotic and threatening a Megahorn, and unlike Blaziken's Fire Blast or Sky Uppercut, you don't have to be weak (or even neutral) to Megahorn to feel its pain. Even Salamence and Gengar need to swallow after taking a Choice Band Megahorn from Heracross. The Earthquake resistance helps Heracross to come in on Swampert, among others, which is more common than anything Blaziken can switch in on. The option of Guts also helps Heracross, and proves a lot more useful than Blaziken's immunity to burn. With just Megahorn and Rock Slide, there's very few Pokémon who can confidentially come into Heracross. Skarmory is one of them, and Skarmory has trouble even surviving a Guts, Choice Band Focus Punch. This leaves the last moveslot for Heracross to use Sleep Talk for sleep absorbing, Facade for Weezing, Hidden Power Ghost for Dusclops and Gengar, or Brick Break for accurate STAB, for example when you want to make sure you kill that Blissey. Note that Sleep Talk works pretty well with Choice items in Advance: you can use it repeatedly, unlike in DP, where it will fail after the first use. It can be used to take a Hypnosis from Milotic or Gengar, or a Spore from Breloom, and still be a threat.

Heracross is not easy to get a full mileage out of, but it's one of the select group of Advance Pokémon that can tear up a team that plays to survive.

Jirachi

Jirachi is known as an infuriating attacker in DP, being able to provide the user with a miraclous comeback just by paralyzing its opponents and flinching them to death with Iron Head. With the trademark 100 base across the board, a very colourful movepool and the valuable Steel typing, Jirachi could slide into almost any team archetype and fix a couple of weaknesses just by using the right moves, and perhaps a Choice Scarf. Could the same be said for its Advance counterpart?

Physical Jirachi is much less impressive in Advance, due to the absence of Iron Head (and Zen Headbutt), and the elemental punches all being Special (making ThunderPunch an inferior Thunderbolt). However, its Special side only really misses Grass Knot, but is still a pretty sight with Thunderbolt, Ice Punch, Fire Punch and STAB Psychic, backed up by 101 HP Substitutes, Wish, Calm Mind and Sand Stream immunity. Jirachi sets focused on Wish and supporting the team are virtually unseen, likely due to the lack of other supportive moves (no U-turn, Stealth Rock or Trick here). Jirachi can be pretty scary if you're not packing the right resistances. Usually it will have Calm Mind, Wish or Substitute and two attacks, one of which will be Psychic. Often players will be able to stop it with Swampert, Tyranitar, Metagross or Skarmory, or even Earthquaking Snorlax. Regardless of this daunting list, Jirachi isn't to be taken lightly, especially not if it does happen to be packing the right moves. Jirachi has a very easy time coming in and staying alive thanks to Steel's resistances and Sand Stream immunity, and even if it can't sweep it can Wish and switch out again to keep the team healthy.

Jolteon

It took him a few generations, but Jolteon seems to have at least matched Zapdos' usefulness in DP, if not surpassed it. That extra bit of speed and the neutrality to Stealth Rock make Life Orb or Choice Specs Jolteon a powerful opponent. Rather odd, if you look at its main use in Advance...

Jolteon in Advance is somewhat situational. Its Electric type grants it very few resistances: if it switches into something in a standard match, it will be against Zapdos or Gengar, hopefully into Thunderbolt so it can Volt Absorb it. From there, Jolteon uses Substitute while Zapdos and Gengar cower away, hopefully for a predictable opponent such as Blissey, Snorlax or Swampert. Then Jolteon takes that Substitute and passes it to something with an immunity or resistance to the expected move. If all goes well, you can end up with a Heracross or Gengar with an unbroken Substitute against an enemy inclined to switch out. That means your new Pokémon, assuming it outspeeds its counter, gets to have no less than three shots at attacking its counter. As you might be able to imagine after reading Heracross' entry, that isn't a pretty foresight.

It's also pretty much the best case scenario, since it usually isn't all this easy. Jolteon's Substitute is pretty much a telegraphed move, and a smart opponent won't be unprepared for it. Roaring Swampert is its worst nightmare, and Snorlax might be able to predict what it passes the Sub to and use its Shadow Ball to break Gengar's Substitute. Still, the initiative is with the Jolteon user. He doesn't always have to pass to a sweeper: he could get Skarmory in behind a Substitute, and stack some Spikes. If Magneton switches in, it can be Whirlwinded out once. Jolteon is one of the purest forms of team support, weakening itself (and your whole team, considering the lack of resistances) in order to make the rest of your team more effective. However, let's not forget to mention Jolteon's blitzing speed making it a lategame threat as well as a revenge killer extraordinaire. For example, Gyarados needs to be Jolly with max Speed to beat Jolteon after one Dragon Dance, and many players are not able to resist the temptation to make Gyarados more of a big bad boy with Adamant and defensive investment.

Jolteon can make use of its Sub/Pass reputation to instead try and get off an Agility and Pass that instead, though other than perhaps the frail Marowak not many Pokémon will be able to break open the game very quickly with that.

Magneton

Magneton's evolution was met with much euphory: finally we have a real Pokémon with Magnet Pull! Magnezone is able to switch in on attacks thanks to actual defensive stats, dish out a very mean punch through its stellar Special Attack, and go out with a bang with Explosion if needed. Long story short, Magnezone could contribute to the team, even if there were no Steels to trap (though this is the function it's best at, by far).

Magneton is a whole different story. Its mere existence turns Skarmory (who has no access to Shed Shell in this generation) from a dominant physical wall into a gamble. Do you want to use Skarmory to cover a lot of physical threats, and risk losing it early to Magneton? Or use other Pokemon to do a worse job at it? The gamble is there with Magneton as well: Magneton's use is minimal at best against teams with Skarmory, oftentimes making it seem like you started at 5-6 yourself. It can beat other Steels such as Metagross and Forretress under certain circumstances (as long as it avoids eating an Earthquake, it's all good), but that's really where it ends. Magneton gets 2HKO'd by most Surfs, 3HKO'd if you gimp its Special Attack. Almost everything it resists is usually in a moveset with Earthquake, Surf or Fire Blast. Even an Aerodactyl Double-Edge isn't going to be taken lightly.

Despite this thing's existence, many, many players enter their tournament battles with Skarmory in tow. It's proven to be very hard to win against Skarmory if it gets to lay down Spikes with little to no effort, and therefore, I believe every team should fulfill at least one of these three conditions: every member should be able to threaten Skarmory with a reliable 2HKO (so no Heracross Focus Punch), or you need a Rapid Spinner, or you need a Magneton. And sometimes even one of the three isn't enough, keeping in mind Skarmory will often get at least one layer of Spikes in before you can trap it with Magneton. Rapid Spinners not named Starmie usually don't threaten Skarmory, and can even die in a long stall war if they don't have Rest, which can be very frustrating if they also face a Spinblocker such as Dusclops.

Magneton makes an excellent partner for any physical sweeper that wants to have Skarmory taken out of the question, especially those that are hard to stop otherwise. Almost any Choice Bander or physical sweeper fits the bill: Flygon, Aerodactyl, Heracross, Metagross and Gyarados are just examples. When relying on this strategy, be careful of Dugtrio unexpectedly trapping Magneton before it can do its job. Magneton can OHKO Dugtrio with Hidden Power Ice or Grass, but then it sacrifices the Hidden Power Fire it can use to OHKO Forretress and beat opposing Magneton.

Medicham

Medicham is pretty much unseen in DP. While its Pure Power trait results it into having strong attacking power (to say the least), its moves aren't quite powerful enough, and therefore the player often has options available with a roughly equivalent level of power but much more durability. The prescence of Gallade, who has the same convenient typing, isn't helping Medicham either.

In Advance, Medicham isn't exactly top tier OU either. It is a bit like Heracross, except even more focused on offense. Medicham breaks open games all by itself with just one correct prediction. Brick Break and Shadow Ball (once again, physical) give it great neutral coverage, Rock Slide 2HKOs Salamence and Gyarados with ease, and Focus Punch can round out a nice Choice Banded set that can kill normally even Skarmory, Dusclops and Celebi, as long as the Medicham user's prediction is spot on. Of course, you need not one but two mind readings to get results out of Medicham, as it is even harder to bring in safely than Blaziken. It's a good example of a Pokémon that benefits from a Substitute Baton Pass. On the rare occasion its Substitute survives, Medicham can't be Intimidated by Gyarados and Salamence, making it all the more scary. Weezing remains troublesome for Medicham, though, and the only way to get around it is to sacrifice a move for Psychic or Return (2HKO).

Metagross

Everyone has always loved Metagross, always and forever, as long as he didn't Meteor Miss. Steel typing is always welcome to any team, both in Advance and DP. In DP, lots of Metagross are used as leads. It matches up fairly well against Azelf and Aerodactyl thanks to Bullet Punch and its own access to Stealth Rock, and when up against Heatran, it can hope to come out on top if it has Occa while Heatran does not have Shuca Berry.

Already from the beginning of Advance, Metagross has formed a good combination with Salamence for their type match-ups. This remained the standard, especially with the FRLG tutors turning Metagross into an Explosion threat, now able to remove bulky Waters (except that mean Protect Swampert) with the click of a button. Metagross has some other tools of opening up the game, such as Choice Band sets (nearly 2HKOing most Waters with Earthquake) and mixed (surprising Skarmory with ThunderPunch or Hidden Power Fire, or Swampert with Hidden Power Grass). However, both of these sets have obvious flaws, such as increased vulnerability to Magneton.

Going back to a rather normal set such as Meteor Mash/Earthquake/Explosion/Agility, Metagross has serious offense issues against standard teams without sacrificing himself or relying on a lucky Attack boost. Swampert is on nearly every team, and Milotic, Gyarados, Skarmory and Forretress have no trouble with it at all, relegating Metagross to a defensive role against the likes of Aerodactyl and Snorlax. That means Metagross will wear down over the course of the match, but unlike Donphan, it remains dangerous until the moment it has 0 HP thanks to Explosion, as well as the fact that it can punish Ghosts with Meteor Mash on the switch if they try to nullify that (Gengar is OHKO'd, and Dusclops is usually outsped and usually 2HKO'd).

Milotic

Milotic has been UU in DP for a while now, unable to keep up with the power of Salamence, Metagross and Tyranitar. Once people realized this, it's become some sort of a Special wall, but other than rarities like Choice Specs Lucario and PorygonZ, it had no real use anymore. Now it's a centerpiece in UU, even though it's countered by the undisputed number one in usage, Venusaur. Back in Advance, nobody would have thought this gracious beauty would ever fall below OU.

The above three hard hitters are a lot less of a threat to Milotic. Dragon Dance Salamence can't possibly get past Milotic unless it didn't Recover before switching out against a previous encounter, and Milotic is one of the main reasons why Choice Band Salamence got popular. ThunderPunch is Special in Advance, so Metagross needs something like a CH Earthquake or a Meteor Mash boost to break through Milotic, and it isn't even guaranteed to be faster (Milotic's base is higher, but Metagross has more reason to invest in EVs). Milotic was never much of a Tyranitar counter, but at least in Advance you won't see Tyranitar switch into Milotic and come out on top.

Other than its great ability to wall, Milotic is a great way to get a sleep inducer on your team without sacrificing on the defensive end (as great as Gengar and Breloom might be, their durability leaves a lot to be desired). Hypnosis might not be accurate, but Milotic has plenty of time to try and hit with it, especially since two of its main switch-ins (Blissey and Snorlax) are slower and don't pose much of an immediate threat (though if Snorlax starts Cursing, Milotic shouldn't stick around). Hypnosis Milotic is one of the reasons Sleep Talk Zapdos overtook pretty much every other possible set for it.

Of course Milotic faces competition for a spot on a team with the numerous other bulky Waters available, such as Swampert, Suicune and Vaporeon. But it's not uncommon for a team to have two of these, and even if you only want one, Milotic's access to an instant 50% recovery move proves it's good enough. Swampert and Suicune have to run Rest to stay alive for lategame, whereas Vaporeon needs to sacrifice half of its moveset to get the same results for itself with Protect/Wish.

Raikou

Another Pokémon that shook up DP UU after it failed to show its true colors in OU. Raikou's always had troubles with Blissey, and in early DP it would also get walled perpetually by either Swampert or Garchomp. Even after Garchomp was banned it couldn't keep up with the big boys. In UU however, it provided sweep after sweep if used with care, and after a series of trials it was lifted to BL, where it still sits today.

In Advance, there was a lot to say about Raikou, except that he was versatile. Its only Special attacks are Thunderbolt, Hidden Power and Crunch, the latter of which adds virtually no coverage except on Celebi. Depending on your opponent's team, the standard Substitute/Calm Mind Raikou set would either clean house or fail to do anything. Usually the latter, considered you'll be hard pressed to find a team without a way to wall Electrics. The most common ways are Blissey, Snorlax or the combination of Swampert and Flygon. Celebi can wall a Raikou without Hidden Power Ice as well, but without something like Swords Dance and a physical move it will be set-up fodder, and likely lose in the end. Calm Minding up against it is no solution, since Raikou's Substitute and Pressure can run Celebi out of Psychic PP.

Even if the opponent doesn't have a clear-cut stop to Raikou, it requires some effort and prediction to set up. For example, against a desperate Milotic with Toxic, Raikou will want to Substitute on Toxic, and Calm Mind on Surf. It should usually only need one Calm Mind to make its Substitutes unbreakable by Surf, so generally, Raikou only needs one correct prediction to gain enormous momentum. Its safe move is to use Substitute, as the worst case scenario of that is losing 25% of its health, whereas if it Calm Minds it can end up poisoned.

Once Raikou is behind that Substitute with one or two Calm Minds in, though, it can threaten even Snorlax. Like with Breloom, Heracross, Jolteon, etc., Raikou is a Pokémon you don't want to give more time than absolutely necessary. Thankfully, the only standard it's really able to switch in on is Zapdos (and Jolteon, but that faster SubPass is dangerous). However, no matter how many Calm Minds Raikou has, without a Substitute it will always end up in checkmate against a faster Dugtrio. Natures can make a huge difference in this match-up: Raikou also usually fails to KO Dugtrio without a Calm Mind unless it's Modest, but Adamant Dugtrio (remember, to 2HKO Blissey) is slower than a Timid Raikou.

Regice

And here we have a Pokémon that has failed to impress in both DP OU and DP UU. Enormous durability on the Special side, and STAB Ice Beam complimented by Thunderbolt—what went wrong here? A good case of Stealth Rock syndrome, combined by being outclassed as a Special sponge by Blissey (for OU). Regice isn't able to wall much if it keeps losing 25% of its health, a problem Gyarados also experiences. Without a 50% recovery move or any really interesting support moves, it really struggles to do anything, even in the UU metagame.

In Advance, Stealth Rock is not a problem. Being worse than Blissey and Snorlax is, though. While Regice threatens Zapdos and Celebi pretty well, it performs so much worse against Raikou (unless it has Psych Up, but then he loses one of its other crucial moves). Against most other things, it isn't so much worse (you can argue it's easier for Jolteon's Substitute to stay in one piece, and Regice obviously does worse against rarities like Entei), but it isn't better either. All it has over Blissey is more power behind its Ice Beam, but that same Ice Beam isn't doing anything to a Snorlax or Metagross switch-in, for example.

Regice is mostly in the OU list because of the lack of statistics or process. You won't see it often when playing Advance. The only kind of team that has trouble with Regice is an offensive team that lacks Metagross and Snorlax. It does feel kind of threatening if none of your Pokémon has an adequate response to BoltBeam.

Salamence

At last, the Pokémon that needs little to no introduction. Soon enough we will find out if Salamence really is deemed too powerful for the OU metagame. Until then, we know it as the most dangerous Pokémon we have. It might not be able to come in often between the 25% Stealth Rock damage, 10% Life Orb recoil and vulnerability to Sand Stream, but it can often get one or two kills off with just one switch-in. Draco Meteor and the high-powered, physical Outrage in combination with Earthquake and Fire Blast for coverage are what makes Salamence so dangerous off the bat, and if it's given time to Dragon Dance, you might as well wave the white flag.

There is no question that Salamence isn't dangerous in Advance, though it lacks the amazing amount of Base Power that makes it so dangerous off the bat. Salamence has no good physical STAB attacks, since Dragon is Special and the best Flying move it gets is Hidden Power Flying. A standard Dragon Dance set for Salamence comes down to Dragon Dance/Earthquake/Hidden Power Flying/Fire Blast, sometimes with Rock Slide over Fire Blast if the user is more worried about Zapdos and Aerodactyl than Skarmory (very understandable if you pack Magneton).

As high as Salamence's attack is, though, it needs to wait forever before it can actually pose a threat. Bulky Waters don't just roll over and die to an unboosted Hidden Power Flying, opposing Gyarados/Salamence can Intimidate it, and either Skarmory or Zapdos can make life hard on Salamence as well. Luckily Salamence can be useful without sweeping, for example by being a check for the dangerous Fighting Pokémon like Heracross and Breloom. In addition, Intimidate and its lack of Spikes makes it ideal for double switches. For example, a healthy Donphan just came in on your Jolteon Thunderbolt. Switch to Salamence to take the Earthquake, then go to Swampert to take laughable damage from Rock Slide. Even if Donphan predicts and uses Earthquake, it's a winning trade.

Salamence's lack of initial attacking power and the Rock Slide/Fire Blast dilemma can be made up for by equipping it with Choice Band, exchanging Dragon Dance for the fourth attack. Now Salamence loses Leftovers recovery, and it is more vulnerable to revenge kills from the likes of Aerodactyl, but it is much more of an immediate threat. Milotic and Vaporeon are borderline 2HKO'd by Choice Band Hidden Power Flying, and Swampert and Suicune won't take more than two hits in a row either. Obviously, this change also means that Steels and Tyranitar can come in on a Hidden Power Flying and force Salamence to go out, but all of these can be hit and at worst 2HKO'd with Earthquake or Fire Blast.

Dragon Dance and Choice Band are Salamence's main sets. There's rogue Wish/Protect or Special attacking sets (Elemence), but both of these are infinitely easier to counter, and not nearly as common.

Sceptile

Sceptile faded into obscurity in DP. Despite its blinding Speed, it seems to be just a little too frail to be on top of the game. A large part of this may be the large amount of Choice Scarf in the OU metagame, in addition to its lack of Sleep Powder, and the inability to hit both Steels and Dragons, which form the core of DP's standard metagame.

In Advance, Sceptile didn't start blooming and booming until it got access to the Substitute/Leech Seed combination. This very set is what makes it one of these few viable Special attackers, as it answers Blissey and especially Snorlax, as it protects it from status and allows it to keep coming without losing health over the course of the match. Of course, that isn't enough to make it a real threat to every team. The combination of Metagross/Salamence, or any Steel combined with Salamence, stops Sceptile's offensive moves cold. While it theoretically has access to more than just Leaf Blade and Hidden Power, you have to keep in mind Crunch and ThunderPunch really add very little when you look at the things Sceptile has problems getting past. That, and it has no room for more than two attacking moves. Celebi puts quite a damper on Sceptile's appeal as well, being able to shrug off its Hidden Power (or even Crunch, barring luck on Sceptile's side) with Recover despite the type effectiveness, and its Substitutes being broken by Psychic.

Sceptile is a bit like Regice and Blaziken, in that it's listed as OU but not really common enough to be truly part of the metagame. You do have to be prepared for it, since 120 Speed is enough to mop up everything except Aerodactyl and Jolteon. But usually, it's taken care of by teams that already have, say, Celebi covered.

Skarmory

Skarmory was so done for in DP. It would now have weaknesses to physical moves, after all, and Magnezone was looking to be a powerful contender. Or that's what we thought when we were carrying out our theorymon in early DP. Never mind getting 50% recovery with Roost, or Shed Shell to escape Magnezone, right? Yeah, we learned our lesson. Skarmory still sets up Spikes like none other, walls a lot of physical attackers with one wing tied behind its back, and even some special ones when given proper EV investment.

So what about Advance? It's still a very centralizing force. As I said on Magneton's entry, it's a huge risk to go into battle without either Magneton, Rapid Spin or 6 Pokémon that can severely cripple Skarmory, unless your team isn't bothered by Spikes at all (in which case you are probably weak to something like Starmie, which hits hard against all Pokémon immune to Spikes). Just for that, you need to be careful if you want Skarmory on your team. You could end up 6-5 if they have Magneton, but on the other hand, you could also see it as 5-5 since Magneton doesn't really contribute anything else. And of course, often they won't have Magneton and something that can't get rid of Skarmory (many variations of Celebi, Metagross, Snorlax, Salamence, Gyarados, do I need to go on?), in which case it's a great asset. Three layers of Spikes end up doing 25% every time they switch, and that happens twice if you Whirlwind on a switch. This is very hard for a team to gain momentum against, especially since they can't really set up anything.

When you build a stall team, you definitely want Spikes. Your choices are pretty much Skarmory, Forretress and Cloyster. You'll have Spikes, and you'll have either Rapid Spin or Whirlwind. Forretress is much slower than Skarmory, and easier to set up on, plus he is hurt by Spikes, though it can Earthquake Magneton and at high health survives its assault as long as it's not Hidden Power Fire. Cloyster is a Spiker that doesn't get trapped by Magneton, and beats pretty much every Pokémon that lays or removes Spikes with its STAB Ice Beam/Surf (Skarmory, Forretress, Donphan, Claydol, but not Starmie), however it has no physical resistances, vulnerable to Sand Stream and generally doesn't live very long. So that's why most people will end up with Skarmory, despite the Magneton problem.

Snorlax

While by no means a bad Pokémon, Snorlax is not exactly popular in DP. It represents a lot of things that can ruin a Pokémon's performance in that generation: slow, large lack of resistances (one immunity, and two resistances if it has Thick Fat), vulnerable to all entry hazards (other than Toxic Spikes if it has Immunity), its STAB isn't hitting anything super effective and fails to to dent Steels. It can work out if the opponent lacks the raw firepower or the correctly typed Pokémon to deal with it, but this isn't often the case.

With this mind, let's look at Snorlax in Advance. Some factors that would, on paper, make it superior are the lack of Focus Blast, Trick and Draco Meteor, as well as only one type of entry hazards rather than three. All of these put together make it a lot safer for Snorlax to switch in, Curse up and Rest without having to worry. Snorlax can survive all day against Blissey, it's not punished as much for its moveslot syndrome since Metagross, Gengar and Tyranitar are all less threatening (and there's no Bronzong). However, Fire Punch is special in this generation, so Snorlax has to rely on Fire Blast to hit on Skarmory. It's not very surprising that Snorlax usually doesn't deviate from Curse, Rest, Body Slam and either Earthquake or Shadow Ball. Occasionally you will see a SubPunch, a Choice Bander, a set with three attacks and Rest, or a mix and match of all aforementioned moves and Fire Blast and Selfdestruct, but most players use the Curse set because it works.

It's hard to stop the Curse set reliably without Skarmory. Metagross and Tyranitar both have to deal with misses on their side (if using Meteor Mash and Rock Slide) while being threatened by Earthquake, while Gengar is only safe if it doesn't have Shadow Ball. A combination of these two works well. Celebi with Leech Seed uses Snorlax' high HP against him (Sceptile too, but it gets nearly put to death by a Cursed Return, so Snorlax can just switch out after attacking and come back later). Weezing makes for a good stopper as well, being able to Haze away Curses and Will-O-Wisp to cut its attack in half, forcing it to Rest. Weezing has troubles recovering health and status though, it can't afford to Rest, and Pain Split is unreliable.

Snorlax is a Pokémon that's going to sweep anyone not properly prepared for it, with great ease. Anyone who knows how to stick a finger up their nose is able to put Snorlax in a threatening position, and it's up to you to prevent that from happening. Keep in mind though, if you're using Snorlax, a CH strong physical attack will almost always kill it, so don't get too greedy with those Curses!

Starmie

Another member of a very small group of Pokémon that's been around for every generation so far, and has been OU for each of them. DP Starmie is one of the most threatening Special sweepers, and at the same time, the most offensively oriented Rapid Spinner. It's barely able to keep itself alive with Recover, but that alone stops it from being worn out by stall teams. Its weakness to Pursuit is a huge turn-off for some, especially those who are afraid of Choice Scarf Tyranitar, but on the other hand it's able to dispose of Rotom-A with a Life Orb Hydro Pump, clearing the way for Rapid Spin to clean all these entry hazards off the field.

Like most Psychic types, Advance Starmie has much less to fear when it comes to Bug, Dark and Ghost attacks, such as the now unavailable U-turn and the Special Pursuit. There's no Rotom-A to threaten it, either - its biggest fear as a Rapid Spinner is Dusclops. The loss of Life Orb hurts its sweeping potential, but it also makes Gyarados much less threatening. It can comfortably stay alive with Leftovers, Natural Cure and Recover. Salamence and Gyarados generally do around 50% to it, so Starmie can switch into them, and while they switch out in fear of Ice Beam and Thunderbolt respectively, Recover. Of course, Starmie needs to Recover very often, especially in a sandstorm, and it's not uncommon for it to fall prey to a Dragon Danced sweeper after being weakened by as little as 25-30%.

Sometimes the player can sacrifice Rapid Spin in favor of a triple attacking, Recovering Starmie. Better at countering, but usually only really plausible if you have another Rapid Spinner on your team.

The large amount of Pokémon Starmie can hit for super effective damage is a huge point in its favor, but nonetheless Starmie faces a large roadblock in Blissey, which it can only sometimes stall out (depending on movesets), and to a lesser extent Snorlax and Celebi. Due to their defensive nature and, in two cases, reliable recovery and Natural Cure, these Pokémon are usually around from begin to end and only die to a surprise such as Explosion. Therefore, Starmie is often forced into a defensive role. Come into Skarmory to Rapid Spin off the Spikes (use Surf if you predict a Ghost switch-in, of course). Come into Gyarados and either Recover (if you took damage) or Thunderbolt (if it Dragon Danced). It's a routine Pokémon that very often needs to be at full health to be able to perform its tasks. Of course, on the rare occasion that your opponent doesn't have the proper stop for it (like any offensive team that doesn't put Snorlax in), it can hand out punishment like none other, especially the version with three attacks. All of its moves have perfect accuracy, and only Jolteon is able to both outspeed and OHKO it.

Suicune

This legendary beast started out Advance as the most bulky Water, on paper. 100 HP and 115 in both defenses, that would be a great stop for Garchomp and Salamence! But now, Garchomp is gone and Salamence just does too much damage with Draco Meteor/Outrage, it is more vulnerable to residual damage than Swampert, and has less reliable recovery than Vaporeon and even Starmie. Now, the trendy Suicune sets are all fast and have at least two attacks to compliment its Calm Mind, often three (Surf, Ice Beam, Hidden Power Electric), often going as far as carrying Life Orb. This kind of Suicune can take Zapdos and Celebi out of the match if played properly (or rather, if their opponent doesn't play properly), and is hard to beat in a one on one situation due to the large amount of concrete durability it has.

But in Advance, Suicune is the exact inverse to Snorlax: tank physical hits with a Bold nature and much defensive investment, and use Calm Mind to make it sturdy on the special side as well as offensively threatening. It can be a nightmare to face if that Starmie Thunderbolt CH just won't come, especially with Pressure depleting PP extremely fast. But then again, with Rest as its only recovery, it does face a high chance of taking that one unlucky shot.

Even if it's unable to sweep, Suicune of course fulfills the bulky Water role like none other, being able to take two Choice Band Salamence hits and live to tell the tale. It can Roar, both for phazing functions and to abuse Spikes, which make a Calm Mind set even more threatening. Very often Suicune has to be stopped by a combination of things that don't actually beat it, such as Blissey forcing it to Rest and then Skarmory Whirlwinding it away. This can make it quite a terror if it ends up as the last Pokémon. This way of countering it is responsible for the invention of "Crocune" (Rest, Calm Mind, Surf, Sleep Talk), which aims for that chance of Sleep Talking a (usually +1 or +2) Surf on Skarmory before the Whirlwind. The chances aren't exactly in Suicune's favor, so the surprise factor alone isn't good enough to turn the tide, but over the long term it makes it both more threatening and more sturdy.

"Calm Mind Suicune has no weak", is what a brave player once said. Fact is that it does have weaknesses, but they are usually situational ones, or come in the shape of Pokémon you don't want to use (Mantine). Usually a counter to Suicune is only temporary: until it's the last Pokémon, or until you're out of PP, for example. Good ways to keep Suicune at bay can be Thunderbolt Starmie (will usually CH Suicune before it's fully Calm Minded), Leech Seed Celebi, Blissey or Toxic Milotic in combination with Whirlwind/Haze, and Haze Vaporeon.

Swampert

DP Swampert is, aside from Gyarados, the most used Water in OU. Despite its lack of recovery, it is thrown into the bulky Water role with ease. The combination of being able to set up Stealth Rock while also functioning as a bulky Water with resistance to Stealth Rock and immunity to Sand Stream is just too good to pass up. It's usually not a significant offensive threat, since it requires HP and Def investments to stay alive against powerful sweepers such as Tyranitar and Metagross, but barring a surprise Grass Knot, almost nothing can get past Swampert within two or three turns.

Leave Stealth Rock out of the above picture, and you have Advance Swampert. Like Suicune, it has a much easier time staying alive in this generation due to the big physical attackers being about half as powerful. This makes Swampert so dominant as a bulky Water that Pokémon such as Metagross and Tyranitar sometimes run Hidden Power Grass, just to get him out of the way. Usually for another sweeper, since Hidden Power Grass takes away the versatility they need to sweep the rest of a team. This, as well as the urge to blow up Metagross and Gengar on Swampert, caused Protect to be a popular move on Swampert. Aside from the scouting, Protect gives Swampert that extra bit of Leftovers recovery that can't be taken away by Sand Stream. And sometimes it really needs it, since against the likes of Dragon Dance Tyranitar and Salamence, every sliver of HP counts.

As mentioned in Flygon's entry, Swampert can easily wall Electrics with Hidden Power Ice, though it can't get past the standard Zapdos. Said Zapdos, especially with Hidden Power Grass, can often be found switching into him instead. An even bigger annoyance to Swampert is the prescence of Celebi, which is not impressed by Swampert's Ice Beam. Swampert's moveslots aside from Earthquake and Ice Beam are often mix-and-match fillers. Rest/Sleep Talk, Toxic, Protect, Roar and Surf/Hydro Pump about sums it up. The latter has some obvious uses, such as stopping Skarmory from Spiking up too easily, and some less obvious uses, such as OHKOing Tyranitar and Gengar when brought into Torrent range (by two Dragon Danced Earthquakes and Giga Drain respectively). Very occasionally you'll see Hidden Power Bug Swampert.

Swampert is really straightforward, a textbook switch into Metagross, Salamence, Tyranitar and Aerodactyl, just to name a few. Its main flaw has to be having to Rest to recover HP and status. If a Tyranitar goes toe to toe with Swampert, it ends up worn out, opening up for the next physical hard-hitter. A Toxiced Swampert is very bad news if it keeps on having to switch in and out. Matches can often be decided by whose Swampert is weakened first. It's a surprisingly good idea to run one of the other three bulky Waters (Milotic, Vaporeon, Suicune) along with Swampert. For example, Milotic can take care of Dragon Dance Salamence pretty much forever, so Swampert can keep its precious health points for that lurking Tyranitar.

Tyranitar

The biggest difference between Tyranitar in Advance and DP is not a move, or an ability, but rather the consequence of its ability. The 50% boost to Special Defense made a whole new Pokémon out of Tyranitar, especially in combination with Pursuit and Crunch going physical. It is the main nerf for all Psychics and Ghosts, including but not limited to Starmie and Gengar. Aside from Pursuiting, Tyranitar is known to be able to hit almost everything hard with mixed, bait or Choiced sets, with the occasional Dragon Dancer thrown in. Its arch nemesis is Scizor, whose Bullet Punch can almost always revenge kill it.

Scizor is nowhere to be seen in Advance as Bullet Punch and Technician do not exist, which is good news for Tyranitar. The bad news is that its STAB moves are hampered: no Stone Edge, and Crunch and Pursuit go off its Special attack. Tyranitar has essentially two main variants: Dragon Dancer (with Rock Slide and Earthquake as attacks, and Taunt or Substitute to prevent disruption), and mixed sets. Mixed sets usually have Substitute and Focus Punch, and some Special attacks (Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Hidden Power Grass, Crunch, there's plenty of choice here).

Of all the Pokémon that can make a difference early in the match with the combination of sheer force and surprise, Tyranitar is probably the easiest one to switch in. It often has opportunities on Celebi, Gengar, Blissey and Snorlax (though all of these can harm or disrupt it with the right move at the right time). Overall, the most safe Pokémon to switch into Tyranitar are Swampert (gets 3HKO'd at worst by anything except Hidden Power Grass and Choice Band Focus Punch, both of which it survives) and Flygon (survives anything but Ice Beam).

As the game progresses, Tyranitar becomes less dangerous as a mixed attacker or Choice Bander, as it takes damage from Spikes and the things it switches into. The surprise of its attacks wears off and it remains slower than most of the metagame. This is when the effectiveness of Dragon Dance Tyranitar goes up, being able to beat bulky Waters not named Swampert one on one with just a little bit of flinch luck or Spikes damage in his favor. Even Swampert sometimes needs to surrender to a Dragon Danced Tyranitar Earthquake.

Of course, Tyranitar users have to deal with Sand Stream as well, which can be damaging for the team. There's less variety of Pokémon immune to sandstorm in Advance compared to DP, what with the lack of Heatran and others. Swampert, Aerodactyl and Steel-types, that's about where it ends. You are better off taking some sandstorm damage than trying to build around it and end up being swept by something like Suicune.

Umbreon

DP Umbreon got thrown out of UU a while ago for barely making the cut in OU. It was pretty well of there, with Curse/Payback and its beefy defenses making it a slow but strong threat if given the time. Now that it's OU again, it can no longer rely on Curse. Instead, it's going to be all about that Mean Look/Baton Pass trap combo. Which can be quite difficult if your opponent can just switch in Scizor and have a free devastating Choice Banded U-turn that will put you in a difficult situation no matter what.

That's one thing Umbreon has in common with the dark fiend reviewed above: it appreciates a complete lack of Scizor in the Advance metagame. Now it's actually a very threatening Pokémon, since it can put a large lock on the game. Mean Look, Taunt and Baton Pass together force the opponent to make a choice right away, and from there they won't be able to switch or use non-attacking moves. That's effectively limiting them from the vast majority of their options. Of course, that sounds a little more scary on paper than it actually is. The flipside of something this dangerous is that sometimes it will work very well, and at other times it's not only going to fail, it'll backfire and give your opponent set-up time. Umbreon is a free Heracross switch, and Heracross is a Pokémon that really shouldn't be given free switches, given that even Focus Punch can be used without risk now. Same story for most other Fighters. Pokémon with Taunt, most notably Gyarados and Tyranitar, will prevent Umbreon from doing anything after its first move on their switch-in. Other Baton Passers can still "switch" after Umbreon has Baton Passed. And the mere fact that Umbreon needs to use two non-damaging moves in a row can be a danger, as it will allow something to set up a Substitute or Dragon Dance before you get to bring in a Pokémon that can actually beat it. Last but not at least, Umbreon itself is unable to kill anything other than by Toxicing it and watching it die, but such a plan has too many flaws to name, one of which is that a Mean Look/Taunt/Baton Pass/Toxic Umbreon has no recovery and thus is likely to die before a poisoned opponent.

However, if Umbreon does pull off the beautiful combo, there's quite a few possibilities for its user to exploit. Our bearded administrator chaos popularized "chaosbreon" for a while, which involves Umbreon locking an opponent in for Celebi to kill with Perish Song. Umbreon can also buy one of your Pokémon quite a lot of set-up time: even infinite, if your opponent switches in the wrong Pokémon, though this is unlikely against a competent player. Ideally you'd trap a Pokémon with Choice Band who uses Earthquake, Baton Pass to Salamence, Dragon Dance six times and sweep, but a more realistic scenario is Umbreon locking in Heracross, barely surviving the Megahorn, and then Salamence comes in and gets to Dragon Dance twice. Umbreon is also a must-have on Baton Pass chains, but I won't discuss that use right here.

Vaporeon

DP Vaporeon's main function is being a bulky Water that can provide Wish to itself and the team. Recover wasn't enough to keep Milotic OU, but Vaporeon seems to be fine, though it really needs Protect and a clean status screen to keep itself alive. Its other defining trait as a bulky Water is Water Absorb, of course, which makes it good for double switches into Surfs and Hydro Pumps.

And to be perfectly honest, Advance Vaporeon really isn't all that different. It has an easier time switching in due to Salamence's power level having decreased significantly, and there's no Toxic Spikes to worry about. In the past, people justified the use of Baton Pass on Vaporeon for no reason other than for it to move after the opponent attacked, so it could soak up a hit then trigger the Wish healing whatever Vaporeon Baton Passed to. But nowadays we know Vaporeon simply can't stay alive if it has to take that extra hit just for your low health Donphan to get back on track, so we'd rather see a set like Surf/Toxic/Protect/Wish, with Ice Beam thrown in if we want to hit Salamence hard. Vaporeon only has one other use aside from what's been mentioned, and it's that evil Baton Pass chain that's been hinted at with Umbreon's entry.

Weezing

Weezing fell to UU a long time ago in DP. If there's one reason for that, it's Heatran. Aside from something ridiculous like Hidden Power Ground, nothing Weezing can do is going to hurt it, and sometimes it's going to do worse than that (like activating Flash Fire). Aside from that, most physical attackers have at least one powerful move that hits Weezing pretty hard despite his huge HP and defense, and he lacks the power to get rid of them quickly. All he can do is Haze away stat boosts, try to burn them and hit them super effectively, but this just isn't enough.

Advance is the generation when Weezing first rose to fame thanks to Levitate, and off the bat it was used pretty much the way it always has been. Switch into Earthquakes and Fighters, distribute burns, Haze Curse Snorlax, Pain Split away damage, rinse and repeat. Unlike Phazers such as Skarmory and Suicune, Weezing can erase the stat boosts of a last Pokémon, though unlike them it can't take advantage of Spikes as well. Weezing's biggest problem is probably its miserable STAB (and lack of good offensive stats), which gives free switches to dangerous Pokémon like Gengar. There's a few niche Pokémon it counters, most notably Snorlax and Heracross, but against many others it is a sitting duck that can't make use of its time on the field very well. This is in constrast to Skarmory, who sets up the scary Spikes when there's nothing else for it to do. That's why Weezing is more of a specific problem solver than part of a team's defensive core.

Zapdos

Last but not at least, Zapdos. The most popular Electric in all generations so far, probably due to its Earthquake immunity and stellar stats all-around. DP's Stealth Rock did make it harder to use, but to compensate, it can use Roost to stay alive. While it can use U-turn and Heat Wave to be an offensive threat, it seems that most people prefer to use Jolteon for such antics lately, who has more speed, Volt Absorb and no Stealth Rock weakness.

Advance Zapdos isn't all that versatile. In fact, its most popular moveset is predictable, generic and could theoretically be used by anything that learns Thunderbolt: Rest/Sleep Talk/Thunderbolt/Hidden Power Grass (sometimes Hidden Power Ice, but overall has more trouble with Swampert than Salamence). Usually Zapdos either invests in physical or special defense. Either it provides a great switch into Gyarados, Metagross, Salamence and Swampert, as long as they're not using a Rock-type move, or it can be a team's answer to bulky Waters and the occasional Blaziken or Sceptile. It can usually stall Blissey out of PP no matter what it carries unless it has invested in Special Attack EVs to power up Ice Beam. Zapdos has the most power behind its STAB out of any OU Special Attacker (only the unSTABed Gengar has more Special Attack), which gives it the potential to scare even Snorlax on occasion (a Modest, max Special Attack Zapdos with Thunder with Spikes support can 3HKO Snorlax).

Zapdos also has a use as a Baton Passer, being able to pass Substitute and/or Agility, just like Jolteon (but it's much better for the latter than Jolteon due to higher durability). Just like Jolteon, Zapdos lures Blissey and Snorlax, who are easy to anticipate, and therefore you're more likely to keep your Substitute in one piece on the Baton Pass.

It lacks the versatility to be a really great offensive threat though, so usually Zapdos is just thrown onto a team and does its thing. It works on both offensive and defensive teams, thanks to its superb typing and lack of a particularly weak stat. The only OU things that can OHKO Zapdos off the bat are Choice Band Tyranitar and Aerodactyl. Major annoyances to Zapdos are Celebi (Calm Mind and/or Baton Pass, mostly), Flygon, and Jolteon. As long as you use Rest in a timely fashion, it's a very hard Pokémon to get rid of.

Team Archetypes

There are two team archetypes you have to be aware of in Advance. Everything else you'll face is usually a mix and match.

Stall

The idea of stall to keep every Pokémon alive by being able to respond to every key threat through a combination of well-matched resistances and sheer defensive stats. Generally, these teams need Spikes up to win, either using those and poison damage, or a late-game sweeper such as Salamence to eliminate the opposition.

A very standard stall team would be Skarmory, Blissey, Dusclops, Swampert, Zapdos, Suicune. Skarmory and Blissey cover almost every offensive threat in the game, and Skarmory lays down the Spikes that are so crucial for victory. The only physical types Skarmory does not resist (Fighting and Rock) are taken care of between the other four Pokémon. Dusclops prevents Rapid Spinners from removing the Spikes. Swampert and Suicune form a bulky Water duo together. Swampert covers any kind of Tyranitar, barring those with Hidden Power Grass, which can be kept in check by Zapdos and Suicune if needed. Suicune is practically this team's offense, being able to Calm Mind up, and use Roar in conjunction with Spikes to wear down the things it can't kill with a +6 Surf.

There's other candidates for a stall team. Claydol or Forretress can be put in to add Rapid Spin to the team, likely at the cost of Swampert and Skarmory respectively. Cloyster is also an option, but he's more prone to dying quickly, and most useful against other stall teams. Gengar can be used over Dusclops for a more offensive approach, with a secondary role as clean-up sweeper. Remember that it has no access to Pain Split in this generation. Vaporeon and Milotic are other choices for both bulky Water slots. Celebi is a marvelous defensive Pokémon, able to Heal Bell (freeing up a slot on Blissey), or Leech Seed and/or Perish Song to get more mileage out of Spikes as well as giving last Pokémon a hard time. Tyranitar is also definitely not unheard of, adding Sand Stream for more residual damage. Tyranitar can either act as the clean-up sweeper with Dragon Dance, or adopt a defensive stance with Rest/Sleep Talk/Roar/Crunch.

Stall can be hard to beat if you don't pack the right elements. Obviously, Magneton can be a great asset, taking out Skarmory or Forretress, often denying them from Spikes. This also makes it easier on a hard hitter such as Heracross or Salamence to break through, but even without aforementioned Steels, stall teams can put up a fight against those. Rapid Spin denies them a great deal of their residual damage, but to get it off against their Ghost, you'll want one with offense (Starmie is the prime choice, but Donphan can work). Theoretically, Pursuit can hurt their Ghost, but Dusclops usually doesn't succumb that easily, not even to a Tyranitar Pursuit. Interestingly enough, if you were to copy the above example for your stall team, you'd have one of the few teams Mean Look/Taunt Umbreon has a field day with.

It can be hard to gain the advantage against a properly played stall team without multiple of the above elements (other than Umbreon). In theory, it can be done with spot-on prediction from a Pokémon like Choice Band Heracross or Medicham, but it's not easy.

Stall teams are generally easy to put together, and very often put to use as they are rather consistent (barring the bad luck that can occur to anyone, such as Tyranitar getting a CH on one of the Waters). If you're playing Advance, you should be ready for those. The key element is very often the Spikes (and the Pokémon that lays them).

Baton Pass

The Baton Pass chain was invented somewhat late in the Advance era, and it took over the game. It's not much of a team, but more of a circle of Pokémon that, once it gets going, is pretty much impossible to stop. The first 5 or so turns are usually decisive when playing against these. 99% of all matches with a Baton Pass team end in a 6-0 for either side.

A Baton Pass chain usually consists of Ninjask, Smeargle, Mr. Mime, Umbreon, Vaporeon and a sweeper. All of the first five carry Baton Pass and Substitute. Substitute protects the team against status, Leech Seed, Taunt and critical hits, all of which can spell the team's doom.

Ninjask's role is to get two or three Speed Boosts, allowing the team to move before the opponent, which is crucial for many of its maneuvers. Substitute isn't going to do any good if you get Toxiced before you can use it, after all. Due to Ninjask's frail defenses, it usually isn't able to do anything but Substitute/Protect for Speed Boosts until later. When the chain got going, it can make a comeback and get in Swords Dances if the final recipient has physical attacking moves.

Smeargle is the only Pokémon in the game that can Baton Pass Ingrain, which gives the team recovery and protects their stat boosts from getting erased by Roar or Whirlwind. Normally Ingrain isn't used in competitive play since it locks the user into play, but since every member carries Baton Pass, this is not an issue. Smeargle also has Spore, which prevents its low defenses from being tested before it can set up Ingrain. Usually, if Smeargle manages to set up, that's a sign the game is in the hands of the Baton Passers.

Mr. Mime is the one that provides boosts to Special Attack and Special Defense with Calm Mind. It may seem like an odd choice when there's other Calm Mind Passers out there, such as Espeon and Celebi. Unlike these two, however, Mr. Mime has Soundproof, Trick and Encore. Soundproof allows Mr. Mime to block Roar, which is useful if the opponent brings in Suicune on Ninjask before Ingrain is out. Roar can be Encored, and then Mr. Mime has time to set up a Substitute or Calm Mind and Pass to the next guy. Trick is a more permanent and risky version of Encore when combined with a Choice Band, but if you manage to lock an opponent in with Umbreon and then Trick them, you can potentially have the rest of the game to yourself.

Umbreon provides that much-needed Mean Look that makes Smeargle's Spore and Mr. Mime's Trick much more effective. The Pokémon you switch to when facing Umbreon is the Pokémon you have to break the Baton Pass chain with, it's that simple. Umbreon's final move is usually either Charm or Taunt. Charm is very welcome, since the team is very vulnerable to Choice Banders and other heavy physical hitters, but Taunt makes it less vulnerable to being Roared/Whirlwinded out before Ingrain is up. Umbreon can also do Wish duty if you want to free up a slot on Vaporeon.

Vaporeon is the team's go-to Pokémon for most physical attackers. It sets up Acid Armor, and keeps itself and the team alive with Wish. Other possible moves for it are Surf, Ice Beam and Protect, but as you can see, Vaporeon is very low on moveslot space.

The recipient should be something that's going to sweep your opponent 100% of the time when given enough boosts. Sets that are completely unable to touch one opponent are unacceptable. Medicham and Zapdos are probably the best candidates. They only need three moves to hit everything in the game (Brick Break/Shadow Ball/Return and Thunderbolt/Hidden Power/Drill Peck respectively), which frees up their last moveslot for Baton Pass. This allows them to be Passed to before the boosts are maximized, if needed.

A Baton Pass team has no true counter. There's some things they have trouble with, such as Choice Banders, Pokémon with Substitute, Phazers, Weezing, Jolteon and Zapdos, but all of them can be beaten with the right amount of luck and correct plays. A more elaborate article on the Baton Pass chain can be found here.

Closing Words: The Rest of the Puzzle

Outside of the above two archetypes, you'll generally find teams with mixtures of all the listed threats. Sometimes there's Pokémon used to combo, such as Magneton with physical sweepers, Umbreon with Pokémon able to take advantage of the lock, or Baton Passers to slow heavy hitters. Very commonly, though, you'll encounter teams that are just a bunch of useful Pokémon thrown together into one team because their typings match up well. An example of such a team would be Metagross, Flygon, Swampert, Zapdos, Celebi, Milotic. There's no deep gameplan involved here: just six Pokémon that keep on doing their thing, hopefully knocking out the opponent before they can do the same. That kind of team, believe it or not, can work as well, and that's what makes Advance so easy to get into. Advance is a happy medium of most generations. It's a lot more calm than DP, but it's not as slow as GSC. Its pace is right in the middle, where you can fight to keep momentum, or learn back and stall out your opponent.

I hope this article has been of use to you.

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