Resource ADV Beginner's Lounge - Rules/FAQ, Resources, Question & Answer

hey guys. Im an old player (~10 years, this acc is from 2013 and the account Paaadeli has some of my old activity on it, I recently recovered this one) and have been playing adv on the ladder casually the last year or so.

I was hoping a more experienced player could tell me why whenever I use the following team, I shoot straight up to 1700 on the ladder. I made it, but I don't understand why it works. I kinda hate the team, lol. Please explain to me why its actually good, or reassure me that its ass!

The team has peaked 1802 (no proof of that! But I'm 1704 rn for instance: View attachment 589947

Here's the pokepaste for the team: https://pokepast.es/496a157cc69f32bf

View attachment 589951View attachment 589952View attachment 589953View attachment 589954View attachment 589955View attachment 589956

Tyranitar (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 96 HP / 240 Atk / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Toxic
- Protect
- Whirlwind

Gengar (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 168 HP / 164 SpD / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Punch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Thunderbolt
- Taunt

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 84 Def / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Rash Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Focus Punch

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 84 Atk / 148 SpA / 132 SpD / 144 Spe
Mild Nature
- Drill Peck
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump


Since its 2024, no doubt these 6 have appeared together before, so its of course nothing new. It's just skarm/tar/gar TSS with some weird things going on I feel like. Let me just try to recall how I made it, and then somebody more experienced can maybe pick it apart and explain why it works:

I started off in ADV using Kerts team with Jolteon. I loved offensive starmie with spikes but not so much jolteon cause Claydol is everywhere now. So I tried to build around starmie without jolteon but keep up the offensive idea.

I left skarm, and picked taunt tar for the tar set. This tyranitar is so filthy early game. It is extremely consistant at revealing swampert/flygon/claydol early, and if they don't have those as rock resist, because skarmory is complete bait for this tar, some matches the game ends extremely early. I think my idea with the spread on the tar was to maximize my ability to get +2 in the early game. 400 attack points adamant allows me to kill bulkless salamence at +0, which happens surprisingly often because of mence pivoting. It's disgusting, this set. I win a lot of games with it.

As for the others, I wanted taunt gar and FP off pert to maximize my ability to hit blissey and keep spikes off since I'm using spinless starmie. I don't remember why the zapdos is mixed with twave, certainly though I remember that celebi was on my mind. Drill peck pressures celebi/blissey surprisingly well.

I don't really like it because offensive swampert is completely awful with no spinner, this team does lose to aero sometimes. But there is counterplay to that, because of the taunt spamming going on. I've even put triple taunt on skarm before. If I can manage to taunt on skarm even just once, usually there aren't spikes on my side, because all my pokemon (except skarm, which is why I want to put taunt on it too sometimes) are strong into skarmory.

Again though, swampert is kinda not. Offensive swampert for me really fails to be strong offensively and reliably defensively, its just ass at both. I could use surf/protect/FP defensive instead, maybe.

If I had to guess, I'd say it just works because taunt tar lead is excellent at chipping things early (or winning...) and together with the added taunt from gar (or skarm), spikes stay off, and in those games I'm safer using offpert against aero. If theres no aero (or jolt), 4 attacks starmie is really really strong as a cleaner with all the blissey traps on the team (again, taunt gar, FP pert, drill peck zap). 4 attacks also allows us to outspeed and kill offensive gengar which is really huge and unique to starmie: this also helps the other members, I think.

Some obvious flaws in its consistancy are the many missing moves, no spin, zapdos weakness, aero, a few other pokemon are strong into it too. But, it wins a lot of games on the ladder.

Anyways I'm sick of typing: hopefully somebody more experienced can rectify this for me. Thanks for reading!

-Padeli
I don't exactly qualify as a "more experienced player" but having read your summary and run into this team a good few times on ladder I think it's simply a solid 6 with just enough techs. It gives you the surprise factor that can give you the edge in the best of 1 environment that is the ladder. It's not a mu fish team or anything, so it doesn't struggle with consistency. It has 4 of the big 5 after all. I do wonder though, how has the spoff mu been, since you kinda have no special walls?
 

Hiro'

is a Tournament Directoris a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Top Contributor
RoA Leader
I know older generations have different tiering methods once they aren't current (and I don't think adv used the usage stats for it back in the day anyway), but is there a reason in that there are so many uubl pokemon? There's more than enough for them to make up an entire tier, but instead there's heaps of mons just sitting in uubl with nothing to do in OU. Has there been any talk about uubl being its own tier?
UUBL was apparently determined by community consensus back when ADV was the current generation as comprised of Pokémon that were borderline OU, as in Pokémon usable to some degree in OU but not consistent enough to be OU. Even though it's not technically its own tier per se, some people still tried to play it as if it was (metagame discussion can be found here), but it's just been pretty inactive lately
 
UUBL was apparently determined by community consensus back when ADV was the current generation as comprised of Pokémon that were borderline OU, as in Pokémon usable to some degree in OU but not consistent enough to be OU. Even though it's not technically its own tier per se, some people still tried to play it as if it was (metagame discussion can be found here), but it's just been pretty inactive lately
I see, so I guess there just isn't enough demand for an official tier for these guys. Unfortunate that a bunch of mons are stuck there forever with nothing to do in OU. Kinda reminds me of the unofficial UUbers tier in gen 9
 
I don't exactly qualify as a "more experienced player" but having read your summary and run into this team a good few times on ladder I think it's simply a solid 6 with just enough techs. It gives you the surprise factor that can give you the edge in the best of 1 environment that is the ladder. It's not a mu fish team or anything, so it doesn't struggle with consistency. It has 4 of the big 5 after all. I do wonder though, how has the spoff mu been, since you kinda have no special walls?
Agree, after using the team more its just a cute team with some hidden techs (taunt tar, drill peck, etc) and performs well on the ladder.

As for offensive starmie, it is good. I think offensive starmie is underrated and fun to use. But it is not consistent at all because you rely on pump, so of course it's very limited. Usually if you can play so that you need to just hit a single pump, it's very good but once you rely on an end game where you need to hit at least 2 pumps its horrible.

As for the blissey thing, I don't find it to be a huge problem. Main reason people slap blissey is zapdos, I guess. Just pivot through pert and chip it with gar, then its in Starmie range. Or if its rest its bait for tar. (However, my team is 6-0'd by Raikou, for instance, so yeah there are some issues).

I've been experimenting with aero in the last slot over starmie and roar zap over drill peck cause with aero theres no celebi weakness. But, I'm actually finding I like starmie more - I think this team prefers a cleaner that isn't weak to something like flygon. the team puts way too much pressure on swampert going into superman in that case. And when facing aero you have enough tools for counterplay.

So yeah, kinda surprising but this team with offensive starmie has worked quite well on the ladder!
 
Agree, after using the team more its just a cute team with some hidden techs (taunt tar, drill peck, etc) and performs well on the ladder.

As for offensive starmie, it is good. I think offensive starmie is underrated and fun to use. But it is not consistent at all because you rely on pump, so of course it's very limited. Usually if you can play so that you need to just hit a single pump, it's very good but once you rely on an end game where you need to hit at least 2 pumps its horrible.

As for the blissey thing, I don't find it to be a huge problem. Main reason people slap blissey is zapdos, I guess. Just pivot through pert and chip it with gar, then its in Starmie range. Or if its rest its bait for tar. (However, my team is 6-0'd by Raikou, for instance, so yeah there are some issues).

I've been experimenting with aero in the last slot over starmie and roar zap over drill peck cause with aero theres no celebi weakness. But, I'm actually finding I like starmie more - I think this team prefers a cleaner that isn't weak to something like flygon. the team puts way too much pressure on swampert going into superman in that case. And when facing aero you have enough tools for counterplay.

So yeah, kinda surprising but this team with offensive starmie has worked quite well on the ladder!
I see, that makes sense. Can't make your team good into everything, and I'd rather be good into superman than raikou. Also I've never heard of rest bliss, do people actually run that? ig with natural cure it could work, but I feel like you'd still need softboiled. Kinda like how wish bliss runs both
 
I see, that makes sense. Can't make your team good into everything, and I'd rather be good into superman than raikou. Also I've never heard of rest bliss, do people actually run that? ig with natural cure it could work, but I feel like you'd still need softboiled. Kinda like how wish bliss runs both
When I wrote about rest I was referring to rest zapdos! Certainly not rest bliss, haha.

I'll keep experimenting. I do really think I prefer a cleaner on this kind of bulky offense team that is good into levitators as oppose to one which is blanked by Flygon, Claydol, etc. (which makes starmie desirable).
 
When I wrote about rest I was referring to rest zapdos! Certainly not rest bliss, haha.

I'll keep experimenting. I do really think I prefer a cleaner on this kind of bulky offense team that is good into levitators as oppose to one which is blanked by Flygon, Claydol, etc. (which makes starmie desirable).
oh! duh my b. best of luck with optimizing
 
Is it really dumb and stupid that I want to request that the e-Reader berries be added to Pokémon Showdown? They are technically unique items that you can give your Pokémon in Ruby/Sapphire.

The Pumkin Berry does the same thing as the Aspear Berry, the Drash Berry does the same thing as the Pecha Berry, the Eggant Berry does the same thing as the Mental Herb, the Ginema Berry does the same thing as the White Herb, the Yago Berry does the same thing as the Rawst Berry, and the Touga Berry does the same thing as the Persim Berry.

Meanwhile, the Strib Berry, Chilan Berry (not to be confused with the Gen 4+ item of the same name), Nutpea Berry, Kuo Berry, Ninjiku Berry, and Topo Berry have no competitive use.

"So... if they are functionally-identical to already-existing items in the game, why include them in our simulator? Just use the items that they are based on!" I hear you say. And that is because of the unique property of e-Reader berries: they cannot be removed. So unlike the items that they share their effects with... you cannot have them removed by the opposing Pokémon using Thief, Covet, or Trick (or you yourself using Trick). This makes them TECHNICALLY mechanically-distinct, and it's a mechanic that this generation had on cartridges that is unavailable in the simulator.

Of course, the other issue is that a game cartridge can only have one of these at a time, as scanning a new card will replace all instances of the old berry with the new one, so we'd need to make some sort of "e-Reader berry clause" to prevent them from combining. And also, with these being only in Ruby/Sapphire and not in FireRed/LeafGreen/Emerald, we'd have to have them not work on teams that have Deoxys in its non-Normal forms.

But other than that... these are unique items that are perfectly obtainable in-game, and yet PS doesn't let you use them. Is it dumb of me to request that they be added?
 
Hey I’m new to ADV.

What is the spread that lets Dugtrio live Modest Blissey’s Ice Beam after spikes?
Most dugs are evd for bold bliss + spikes or just modest. Not really both. 8HP + 216 SpDef EVs survive bold bliss after two spikes, but 68 HP+ 192 SpDef survives modest bliss after one spike.The problem with both spreads is that you're giving up on so much speed and bulk — even w/jolly, you still need 96 speed EVs to outspeed base 100s, but you're still only hitting 234 attack. Even with a choice band, that's pretty pitiful:

152 Atk Choice Band Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 295-348 (86.2 - 101.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
152 Atk Choice Band Dugtrio Hidden Power Bug vs. 76 HP / 0 Def Celebi: 299-352 (83 - 97.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
152 Atk Choice Band Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Jirachi: 317-374 (92.9 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

Needing to spread more chip of bi is already problematic, but those roles against rachis and tar's are atrocious. Re: For tar, note that you're not outspeeding or KOing after a dance.

Overall, trying to spend so much effort on keeping dug alive ultimately just isn't worth. Going for adamant or a +1 joly ddtar outspeeder is probably the way to go. Try the former for picking off bliss.
 
Last edited:
Howdy, I believe this is the correct thread for my question, but apologies if not. I have recently gotten into ADV OU and have been using sample teams. One team I really enjoy using is Eden's Moltres TSS team, however I have had problems with Suicune. Specifically rest talk Suicune, even if I have a spike up and chip it if its the last mon and I can't phase it out it just seems to outright win. I tried using Bliss and it just loses 1v1 vs rest talk. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do, but I figure there is something I am missing. I have tried taunting it but because it only lasts one turn it doesn't seem effective as they can just Surf through Gar and Tar. I would love a response from someone more familiar with the matchup to explain what I am missing or if it is just a loss if rest talk cune is last mon on the opposing team
 
Dont know if this was asked before as I haven't gone through every reply of the thread but I was curious when was "ADV" adopted as the main name for gen 3? On the smogon dex site it's referred to as "RS" or "RSE" but everywhere else they call it ADV. At first, I thought it was just because it was named after the anime (advanced battle) or the handheld it was first available on (GameBoy Advanced) but I can't seem to find any thread or anything relating to when and why ADV became the main name for the generation.
 
How do I beat Salamence with a TSS team? Specifically I've been mostly using the Jolteon Starm Spike Stack by Kerts sample team.

Theoretically I can beat Mixed Salamence with Gengar's Ice Punch or Starmie's Ice Beam. I have succeeded at wearing down the opponent's team by switching in Starmie on Fire Blast multiple times, but that seems inconsistent.

Dragon Dance has sweeped me every time. After the boost it outruns and has a chance to one shot almost everything on this team.
 
How do I beat Salamence with a TSS team? Specifically I've been mostly using the Jolteon Starm Spike Stack by Kerts sample team.

Theoretically I can beat Mixed Salamence with Gengar's Ice Punch or Starmie's Ice Beam. I have succeeded at wearing down the opponent's team by switching in Starmie on Fire Blast multiple times, but that seems inconsistent.

Dragon Dance has sweeped me every time. After the boost it outruns and has a chance to one shot almost everything on this team.
As you point out you can revenge mixed with Starmie and Gengar. Mix can't ohko either of those, nor can it ohko jolteon, so those are all panic buttons you can go to against mix.

DDance does sweep you modulo rolls. But it isn't able to set up on any team members except chipped tar and EQ locked meta. If your tar is chipped, hopefully your Mie is healthy and gets the roll to live.
 
I've been using the ZapDug sample team to great effect https://pokepast.es/af8824d77b9678c4

But I really struggle with Skarmory. I'll send in Starmie to spin, but Skarm will shut it down with Toxic and Protect. This team is very vulnerable to spikes, so I do my best to keep them off, but Skarm makes it difficult. If I can get Zap in they just protect and switch, I usually BP there to scout their switch, but Skarm is still alive, Toxicing my Swampert, blocking my spins. And roar Skarm is especially troublesome, once they have a few layers down and start roaring I really don't know what to do
 
I've been using the ZapDug sample team to great effect https://pokepast.es/af8824d77b9678c4

But I really struggle with Skarmory. I'll send in Starmie to spin, but Skarm will shut it down with Toxic and Protect. This team is very vulnerable to spikes, so I do my best to keep them off, but Skarm makes it difficult. If I can get Zap in they just protect and switch, I usually BP there to scout their switch, but Skarm is still alive, Toxicing my Swampert, blocking my spins. And roar Skarm is especially troublesome, once they have a few layers down and start roaring I really don't know what to do
yes, this team is pretty weak vs skarmory. you can try running hidden power fire on your celebi and possibly refresh on swampert to make yourself better vs it. Being weak to skarm is a pretty common theme with any dugtrio team, so you need to be careful in that matchup
 
As you point out you can revenge mixed with Starmie and Gengar. Mix can't ohko either of those, nor can it ohko jolteon, so those are all panic buttons you can go to against mix.

DDance does sweep you modulo rolls. But it isn't able to set up on any team members except chipped tar and EQ locked meta. If your tar is chipped, hopefully your Mie is healthy and gets the roll to live.
Thank you, this helped me rethink how I play against Salamence
 
Does anyone have any advice for completing the 3 non-OU pokemon ladder challenge? I.e to get the max achievement you have to reach 1650 elo with a team of at least 3 non OU pokemon. I really want to give this a shot but I am having a super hard time finding team inspiration for a lot of these mons. Here's the mons I'm most interested in, I'd love some context/help figuring out what they do:

  • 1711672371032.png
    I've tried a few teams with him as a late game sweeper like Raikou but man, it just seems too weak and too fragile to work. I don't understand the trick sets at all, either.
  • 1711672511484.png
    I know this is a stall mon but does it have a genuine niche?
  • 1711673760999.png
    I've seen this mon on a few really old teams as a spinner, but I've literally never seen it on ladder. It looks okay though as a physically bulky spinner.
  • 1711672582172.png
    ,
    1711672595631.png
    ,
    1711672619849.png
    Would love to know why I'd pick these over gengar and what teams they fit on.
  • 1711672702747.png
    ,
    1711673189971.png
    I have no clue what teams would appreciate these two, but they seem very similar.
  • 1711672809021.png
    Why would you pick this over kingdra?
  • 1711672905265.png
    ,
    1711672929241.png
    ,
    1711672937856.png
    Whats up with these guys? I feel like regirock and ice are decent mons that would fit on physical and special offense respectively, especially since they have boom.
  • 1711673123620.png
    Honestly this mon looks so cracked, it has amazing bulk - like actually insane bulk, so I am pretty confused why I never see it on teams. It also has wish so what gives?
  • 1711673261719.png
    Personally my fav mon on this list. I once got totally owned by one on ladder, I was super surprised to learn that it totally beats blissey 1 vs 1 with pain split, which I think is neat.
Sorry if this is way too big of a question but I am dying to learn about these (and others!) uncommon picks.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 3, Guests: 1)

Top