hello all! i'm air602, or AirPan on showdown. i've held an interest in competitive pokemon for some time now, being introduced through replays on yt. i've played and teambuilded for a small time on gen 5 before deciding that metagame is way too complex and wild for me to start off with. so i've moved to adv, where, in my opinion, fundamental mechanics are more established and easier to learn. this is my first time publishing a team on a forum, and i made it all on my own thanks to being on the waitlist for verification on the adv discord. i am totally open to feedback, so please flame me. snide remarks and tangents concluded, i'm excited to share the first of what i consider a relative success of teambuilding for me.
i wanted to build a team around mixed metagross, as i'd been impressed with it's versatility and suprise factor when learning the basics of the meta with sample teams. introducing "the fame", named after one of my favorite pop albums by lady gaga.
success while playing this team is hindered on making calculated switches in the early game, usually between mence, celebi, and metagross, to scout the opponent's team while trying to preserve as much health as possible on your mid and late game threats (dug, tar, and zap). being able to interpret the opponents mons in the back will allow you to make the necessary sacs and trades needed to maintain momentum in the mid game to set up ddtar, your main late game cleaner. saccing and trading is a necessary momentum commitment, as otherwise tss will eat you alive. however, this is not a hyper offense team. mence, celebi, and zap all have tools to adapt to slower paced team styles in order to scout important defensive checks, waiting until the right moment to switch the momentum to a faster pace.
just dance (Salamence) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break
- Fire Blast
- Wish
this is a standard mixmence ev/move spread whose movepool has been adjusted to a more aggressive lead style. rock slide and wish have been opted over hp grass and dragon claw. rock slide was chosen to threaten lead zap over mid game pert, as a potential boom from metagross along with celebi and ddtar both being equipped with grass coverage is more than enough to handle it with smart plays. wish was chosen to abuse protecting lead skarm after a toxic or other protect users, or to heal a chipped teammate during the midgame as a sac. ddtar especially appreciates wish support if it has had to come in to wallbreak in the midgame. of course, this mence is susceptible to being ohko'd by band metagross, band ttar, special ttar, mixed mence, lead hp ice zap. such a risk may seem offputting, but between intimidate, maxed speed, potential rockslide flinch, potential fire blast burn, and the fact that this is an offensive team, this risk suddenly seems much more manageable and consisent with the intended playstyle. trading chip on any of those threats also opens up opportunities for ddtar later in the game. also the nickname is a minor mindgame. like no one would ever lead ddmence but it's funny to think "maybe".
summerboy (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 120 SpD / 136 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
when building this team, i realized that the smogon analysis pages of celebi and zap LIED to me. FOOLISHLY, i had originally intended zap to be agil pass and celebi to be cm pass. turns out double stat pass is BANNED. oh well. sub pass zap is still pretty good though, especially paired with cm pass celebi to maintain special boosts. dreaming of a boosted mixed gross with a sub up had me frothing at the mouth like swifties after taylor announced her latest album. sub is especially good early game to abuse protect users and passive status spreaders on stall and balance teams. sub passing to dug on a chipped trap target is also sweet for confirms, and passing to ddtar allows set-up turns. evs are set to survive bulky water ice beams and hit back hard with tbolt. also summerboy is a wholly unappreciated track off the fame and you should listen to it.
poker face (Metagross) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
- Explosion
ah yes, the reason i began building this team. mixedgross is a funny mon. it suprises most players i face, laughing at gar wisps while ohko'ing back with stab psychic and dealing significant chip to skarms expecting free layers with hp fire. metagross' natural bulk and steel typing allows it to switch in relatively safely in the early game, and a well timed boom after some chip can break open opposing teams with style. boom also allows dug to come in for a trap confirm too. of course, mixedgross can also receive subs and cm boosts from zap and celebi respectively to threaten slower mons in the mid to late game. flexible defensively and offensively, this is my favorite member of the team. shiny is mandatory.
paparazzi (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 172 SpA / 36 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
- Baton Pass
while metagross is my favorite team member, celebi is undoubtedly the glue guy. cm pass excels on setting up on passive mons; milo and pert especially with the threat of giga drain. occaisionally celebi can be a special cleaner, but not often with the coverage here. those foolish enough to try to stall with blissey can be suprised with a specially defensive boosted dug pass. while dug can't abuse the offensive side of the pass, the defensive boost allows for more leniency with spikes chip to survive ice beam and ko with earthquake. metagross, zap, and mence all appreciate boosts to their special stats as well. hell, even ddtar can sometimes utilize the special boosts for it's hp grass and defense againt bulky waters in desperate situations. psychic was chosen over hp fire, as mence and metagross have that covered already, and suprise ohko'ing a gengar that's confident in the 1v1 fills my heart with warmth. this is the only mon i spent actual time fiddling with evs on calc. max hp for longevity, obviously needed for the role. 36 speed to just edge out adamant heracross is nice, but being slower to guarentee passes is as well. def and sp atk have been balanced to survive being ohko'd by opposing hp bug dug from full while threatening to ohko back on a roll. defense was prioritized for a bit of longevity and the fact that cm boosts cover the special side defensively.
lovegame (Dugtrio) @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Aerial Ace
- Rock Slide
dug doing dug stuff. i'm getting kind of tired of writing so i'll make these last two mons brief. standard band dug, opting for rock slide last to threaten out flying types as a revenge killer. as mentioned, subpass and cmpass synergize well with this mon, potentially granting confirms on blissey and other important targets. a good mon for revenge killing and upkeeping pace. band lock can potentially be abused if you're wanting to sac after a kill, try to be mindful of that before mindlessly clicking buttons.
the fame (Tyranitar) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Dragon Dance
finally, the late game sweeper fast ddtar. while it can come in mid game to set up sand and potentially wallbreak, this team overall appreciates sandless leftovers recovery and has better options for wallbreaking. hp grass was chosen for the third attacking move, as dug already has hp bug for celebi and bulky waters are this mons greatest scourge. it requires some reads to kill these bulky waters, of course, but such us the price of an offensive team. making smart plays with a scouted and chipped team will bring results. lum berry over leftovers because nothing makes me sadder than seeing this mon being toxic stalled or para'd with a potential sweep in view.
i wanted to build a team around mixed metagross, as i'd been impressed with it's versatility and suprise factor when learning the basics of the meta with sample teams. introducing "the fame", named after one of my favorite pop albums by lady gaga.
success while playing this team is hindered on making calculated switches in the early game, usually between mence, celebi, and metagross, to scout the opponent's team while trying to preserve as much health as possible on your mid and late game threats (dug, tar, and zap). being able to interpret the opponents mons in the back will allow you to make the necessary sacs and trades needed to maintain momentum in the mid game to set up ddtar, your main late game cleaner. saccing and trading is a necessary momentum commitment, as otherwise tss will eat you alive. however, this is not a hyper offense team. mence, celebi, and zap all have tools to adapt to slower paced team styles in order to scout important defensive checks, waiting until the right moment to switch the momentum to a faster pace.
just dance (Salamence) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break
- Fire Blast
- Wish
this is a standard mixmence ev/move spread whose movepool has been adjusted to a more aggressive lead style. rock slide and wish have been opted over hp grass and dragon claw. rock slide was chosen to threaten lead zap over mid game pert, as a potential boom from metagross along with celebi and ddtar both being equipped with grass coverage is more than enough to handle it with smart plays. wish was chosen to abuse protecting lead skarm after a toxic or other protect users, or to heal a chipped teammate during the midgame as a sac. ddtar especially appreciates wish support if it has had to come in to wallbreak in the midgame. of course, this mence is susceptible to being ohko'd by band metagross, band ttar, special ttar, mixed mence, lead hp ice zap. such a risk may seem offputting, but between intimidate, maxed speed, potential rockslide flinch, potential fire blast burn, and the fact that this is an offensive team, this risk suddenly seems much more manageable and consisent with the intended playstyle. trading chip on any of those threats also opens up opportunities for ddtar later in the game. also the nickname is a minor mindgame. like no one would ever lead ddmence but it's funny to think "maybe".
summerboy (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 120 SpD / 136 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
when building this team, i realized that the smogon analysis pages of celebi and zap LIED to me. FOOLISHLY, i had originally intended zap to be agil pass and celebi to be cm pass. turns out double stat pass is BANNED. oh well. sub pass zap is still pretty good though, especially paired with cm pass celebi to maintain special boosts. dreaming of a boosted mixed gross with a sub up had me frothing at the mouth like swifties after taylor announced her latest album. sub is especially good early game to abuse protect users and passive status spreaders on stall and balance teams. sub passing to dug on a chipped trap target is also sweet for confirms, and passing to ddtar allows set-up turns. evs are set to survive bulky water ice beams and hit back hard with tbolt. also summerboy is a wholly unappreciated track off the fame and you should listen to it.
poker face (Metagross) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
- Explosion
ah yes, the reason i began building this team. mixedgross is a funny mon. it suprises most players i face, laughing at gar wisps while ohko'ing back with stab psychic and dealing significant chip to skarms expecting free layers with hp fire. metagross' natural bulk and steel typing allows it to switch in relatively safely in the early game, and a well timed boom after some chip can break open opposing teams with style. boom also allows dug to come in for a trap confirm too. of course, mixedgross can also receive subs and cm boosts from zap and celebi respectively to threaten slower mons in the mid to late game. flexible defensively and offensively, this is my favorite member of the team. shiny is mandatory.
paparazzi (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 172 SpA / 36 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
- Baton Pass
while metagross is my favorite team member, celebi is undoubtedly the glue guy. cm pass excels on setting up on passive mons; milo and pert especially with the threat of giga drain. occaisionally celebi can be a special cleaner, but not often with the coverage here. those foolish enough to try to stall with blissey can be suprised with a specially defensive boosted dug pass. while dug can't abuse the offensive side of the pass, the defensive boost allows for more leniency with spikes chip to survive ice beam and ko with earthquake. metagross, zap, and mence all appreciate boosts to their special stats as well. hell, even ddtar can sometimes utilize the special boosts for it's hp grass and defense againt bulky waters in desperate situations. psychic was chosen over hp fire, as mence and metagross have that covered already, and suprise ohko'ing a gengar that's confident in the 1v1 fills my heart with warmth. this is the only mon i spent actual time fiddling with evs on calc. max hp for longevity, obviously needed for the role. 36 speed to just edge out adamant heracross is nice, but being slower to guarentee passes is as well. def and sp atk have been balanced to survive being ohko'd by opposing hp bug dug from full while threatening to ohko back on a roll. defense was prioritized for a bit of longevity and the fact that cm boosts cover the special side defensively.
lovegame (Dugtrio) @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Aerial Ace
- Rock Slide
dug doing dug stuff. i'm getting kind of tired of writing so i'll make these last two mons brief. standard band dug, opting for rock slide last to threaten out flying types as a revenge killer. as mentioned, subpass and cmpass synergize well with this mon, potentially granting confirms on blissey and other important targets. a good mon for revenge killing and upkeeping pace. band lock can potentially be abused if you're wanting to sac after a kill, try to be mindful of that before mindlessly clicking buttons.
the fame (Tyranitar) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Dragon Dance
finally, the late game sweeper fast ddtar. while it can come in mid game to set up sand and potentially wallbreak, this team overall appreciates sandless leftovers recovery and has better options for wallbreaking. hp grass was chosen for the third attacking move, as dug already has hp bug for celebi and bulky waters are this mons greatest scourge. it requires some reads to kill these bulky waters, of course, but such us the price of an offensive team. making smart plays with a scouted and chipped team will bring results. lum berry over leftovers because nothing makes me sadder than seeing this mon being toxic stalled or para'd with a potential sweep in view.
