Featured ADV OU RMT

Team by Earthworm, with commentary by Sir. Art by sandshrewz.

Salamence @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Brick Break
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power Flying
- Rock Slide

Standard CBmence with Adamant Heracross's Speed + small speed creep. Good for heavy physical hits once Skarm is out of the picture (I have a Magneton). Brick Break for Lax/Tar. It is important for pressuring Celebi and fighters (Heracross). Intimidate is also a must-have for switching into stuff like DDers especially, since it forces them to guess whether you are switching again or attacking blah blah blah. Can take wishes from Vaporeon if they send something like Celebi into it.

Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 64 Def / 20 Spe
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spe)
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Hidden Power Grass
- Meteor Mash

Utility physical attacker. Used as backup (defensive Explosion) against a lot of stuff, and offensively explodes hopefully on something preventing the other guys from wrecking (e.g. Milotic). HP Grass so I don't have to risk exploding on Protect Swampert, for example. The Defense EVs are because I found people like chipping away at Metagross and then sending in Dugtrio at some point, so now they won't realise that they haven't chipped enough and it ends up dying. Same applies to +1 DDtar EQing and probably others...

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Atk / 116 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Selfdestruct
- Shadow Ball

Physical attacker + special attack taker. People usually don't expect all three of Body Slam + EQ + Shadow Ball, so that helps me hit Gengar hard quite often. When I made this team Selfdestruct wasn't so common, but now I guess it's not as much of a surprise, but I think people all think of MixLax when they think Selfdestruct, so somehow it kills stuff. Also, a utility Explosion is always nice. This is the main receiver of Vaporeon's Wish, since it is very important that this can come in on Zapdos and still be healthy. One of the key concepts behind this team is to not let the typical Spikes + sandstorm teams wear me down, which is why I run both Magneton and Claydol, as you will see. The idea behind the entire team in fact is to wreck people with physical things without letting them get worn down by the ever-present Spikes of the modern RSE metagame.

Magneton @ Leftovers Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 204 HP / 240 SpA / 64 SpD
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Hidden Power Ice
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Thunderbolt

RestTalk Magneton walls the really common Will-O-Wisp Gengar sets (Taunt/Giga Drain), and also obviously traps Skarmory / can trap a dented Forretress can also stall non-CM Blissey and maybe switch into annoying Zapdos if it has to. Walling Gengar is the main thing with this. I personally spam HP Ice to scout Dugtrio switches, rather than try to double switch out. I often play this pretty cautiously initially in case someone tries the old Skarm → Dugtrio double switch right off the bat. I can afford to do this because I have Claydol.

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Protect
- Surf
- Toxic
- Wish

Passes Wish and physical walls things. Toxic because I love status and forcing stuff like Suicunecune to Rest is good enough (SubCune can be dealt with using Snorlax, just read the situations right and you will be fine; CroCune can either be exploded on or just spammed with CB HP Flyings since it doesn't have IB, although it won't kill without a crit unless there's sand). This can also try PP stalling various mono-water Suicune, which I think is possible with well timed switch+switch backs, and obviously there won't be Spikes to worry about.

Claydol @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power Fire / Ice Beam
- Psychic
- Rapid Spin

Rapid Spinner with Psychic for Gengar. Nobody uses Dusclops. EQ for Jirachi and Dragon Dance Tyranitar and STAB, HP Fire for Forretress, Ice Beam for Salamence and Flygon if you don't care about Forretress. EQ doesn't hurt Tyranitar as much as I'd like, which has led to me getting DDtar swept a couple of times.

Overall, I find even if this team is "walled", it is pretty good at staying alive against stall teams anyway, so I can always play the stall game too, which is something I really like in teams. A couple of weak points are stuff like Fire Punch Will-O-Wisp Gengar, Dusclops, HP Bug Dragon Dance Tyranitar under the right circumstances (weakened Vaporeon/Metagross, predicting Salamence correctly, weakened Claydol, weakened Snorlax or healthy DDTar), random things Toxicing Vaporeon... I am happy with this team though.

Despite its age, the ADV OU metagame is ever-changing with different trends. Currently, the prevalence of Calm Mind Blissey limits the number of offensive Calm Mind teams that are used; also, Forretress + Tyranitar + Gengar teams and Double Trap teams featuring Magneton and Dugtrio were fairly popular during the last season of the Smogon Tour. Earthworm has managed to stay on top of all the trends and construct a team that has been very successful for the last two seasons of the Smogon Tour, even though it hasn't been used solely by Earthworm. McMeghan and MarceloDK have both used the team to win a week in an ADV OU tour during the Smogon Tour. Let's delve into why Earthworm's team has been one of the best and most consistent teams in this consistently morphing and fantastic metagame.

Choice Band Salamence leads off Earthworm's team and it plays a very important role: checking Fighting-types and receiving Wish from Vaporeon so that it can spam Choice Band moves for as long as possible. Another very important role that Salamence plays on this team is its ability to counter Celebi, especially since Calm Mind + Leech Seed variants of Celebi can't be dealt with by this team outside of using Explosion or Selfdestruct, and Celebi is annoying to deal with in general. With Magneton support, Salamence's biggest check in Skarmory is eliminated, meaning that no Pokemon in the ADV OU metagame wants to switch into Earthworm's Salamence.

Earthworm has chosen Metagross to be Salamence's partner in crime, and for good reason. Metagross and Salamence have excellent defensive and offensive synergy, especially on this team. Firstly, with Magneton trapping Skarmory and Forretress to a lesser extent, Metagross and Salamence have free rein on a lot of teams in the ADV OU metagame. Earthworm has given his Metagross Hidden Power Grass, which not only gives Metagross a much easier time versus Swampert, but also severely weakens one of Salamence's best and most popular switch-ins. In addition to the excellent offensive synergy with Salamence and the rest of the team, Metagross serves as a sturdy Rock-type resist that can check Dragon Dance Tyranitar if need be, and can Explode on anything that may pester Earthworm or if Metagross has outlived its usefulness.

Every team in ADV OU needs to have a plan to switch into the powerful special attackers that dominate ADV, and Snorlax is Earthworm's plan. Unlike most other Snorlax, Earthworm has opted for an all-out attacker with Selfdestruct. Although this set is usually not the best option for Snorlax on most teams, it's a perfect fit for Earthworm's team because he has RestTalk Magneton to take status effects from Gengar and Wish support from Vaporeon to keep Snorlax healthy throughout the match. Just like Metagross and Salamence, Snorlax loves the removal of Skarmory that Magneton provides. Without Skarmory, the best Snorlax switch-ins are Will-O-Wisp Gengar, who doesn't want to take a Shadow Ball on the switch and is countered by Magneton; Celebi, who can be Selfdestructed on if it becomes too annoying; and bulky Water-types that get weakened by Snorlax, enabling Salamence to sweep later in the game.

Most teams that utilize Magneton use an offensive set with Substitute and a status move. Earthworm's choice to use a RestTalk Magneton fits well on this team because it frees up Snorlax's options, enabling Earthworm to run an uncommon and effective set on his Snorlax, and RestTalk Magneton is one of the best answers to any Gengar that lacks Will-O-Wisp. Of course, Magneton also traps Skarmory and a weakened Forretress, which is huge for a team that is relying on its bulky physical attackers to sweep. Earthworm can afford to run Hidden Power Ice because his team has Claydol, thus eliminating the need to get rid of Forretress as soon as possible to limit the number of Spikes it lays down because he can get rid of hazards later on in the game. Hidden Power Ice is also very useful for making Dugtrio users think twice about switching in and for hurting Celebi.

Most teams in ADV utilize a bulky Water-type and Earthworm's team is no different. Vaporeon is the defensive backbone of the team, keeping Snorlax, Metagross, and Choice Band Salamence healthy throughout the match. Toxic is useful for making Vaporeon an excellent answer to offensive variants of Suicune and forces defensive variants to use Rest prematurely. Toxic also allows Earthworm to stall out a Celebi that may switch into Vaporeon or a Salamence that Earthworm needs to answer. Although usually not used, Vaporeon is the best bulky Water-type for Earthworm's team, which would otherwise have trouble against more defensive teams in the late parts of the game.

Claydol rounds off the lineup and does a lot of important things for Earthworm's team. First and foremost, it's a Rapid Spinner. Rapid Spin and Wish support ensure that his hard-hitting physical attackers can survive long throughout the match; this attribute of Earthworm's team is why it's so successful. Additionally, Claydol is one of the few Rapid Spinners that can actually 2HKO bulky Gengar, the other being Starmie. Secondly, Claydol packs a number of important resistances and immunities that help Earthworm out tremendously, most notably the resistance to Rock-type moves and immunity to Ground-type moves. Earthworm opts for Hidden Power Fire to 2HKO Forretress, but Ice Beam is a very viable alternative since it deals with Salamence and Flygon.

Now that we've looked at every Pokemon on this team, you may have begun to see why this team is so successful. The offensive core of Choice Band Salamence plus Metagross in conjunction with Magneton is very difficult for more balanced teams to handle, while Vaporeon's Wish and Claydol's Rapid Spin keep his team alive versus stall teams, and the multiple Explosion and/or Selfdestruct users plus the solid defense gives Earthworm a chance versus more offensive teams. However, this team does still have quite a few flaws. As Earthworm stated, Dragon Dance Hidden Power Bug Tyranitar can be very difficult for this team to overcome, especially in the later parts of the game when his Pokemon are more weakened. Tyranitar may not have many chances to set up, but when it does, he is in for a lot of hurt. Earthworm also mentioned Fire Punch Gengar as a threat to his team since it gets past Magneton and can proceed to spread status across his team. Other than simply Fire Punch, any team with Gengar and Dugtrio can cause a lot of problems for Earthworm. Dugtrio can get rid Magneton if it manages to switch in on anything but Hidden Power Ice and Gengar can then proceed to dominate with status and excellent offensive coverage. Finally, offensive teams that utilize more than one Calm Mind user can be very difficult for Earthworm to deal with. Although Earthworm has a sturdy special wall in Snorlax, Snorlax doesn't fare well versus boosted STAB Psychics and other things of that nature. Earthworm's team may have its flaws, but it has proven to be one of the best performing teams in the modern ADV OU metagame.

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