Would like to preface this by saying I'm not a very good Pokemon player. I pretty much exclusively hover around the 1200-1400 range on the Showdown ladder in every generation I play. I built this team to use my favourite Pokemon of all time, Vileplume. Of every generation's OU, ADV is easily the most conducive to making good competitive use of Vileplume, since its middling stats hadn't been fully powercrept yet. I'm fully aware Vileplume is also pretty solid in formats like RBY PU, ADV UU, and XY NU, but those formats aren't permanent on Showdown's ladder, and I'm a bit too shy to ask people to play competitive Pokemon with me.
Without further ado, here's what I came up with:
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Fire Blast
Two very noteworthy things about this team is that its very slow and its very stally. As such, I've found that I need sand up right away and that sand absolutely needs to stick. Lead TTar just accomplishes this better than anything else I can run. Rock Slide's there for lead Zapdos and Ninjask, Brick Break hits enemy TTar leads, and Fire Blast is for hitting Skarmory and Forretress. The fourth moveslot can really be anything, but I choose to run Earthquake, since Jirachi can be incredibly painful for the rest of the team to deal with. In the lategame, TTar serves as an important check for mons like Charizard, Skarmory, Blissey, and Forretress, making it important that TTar switches out on a bad MU like Swampert.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Drill Peck
- Spikes
- Toxic
- Roar
Standard spikes support Skarmory. TTar and Skarmory set the stage for a standard "sand and spikes" stall setup. The team lacks fast and heavy hitters, and opts for a slower wincon because of that. For EVs, I opt for Special Defense investment over Physical Defense since even without investment, Skarmory can take pretty much any physical attack fairly comfortably. I opt for Drill Peck in the fourth moveslot since most people don't see it coming and will try things like Focus Punch on Breloom, despite Skarm Drill Peck pretty comfortably OHKOing.
Porygon2 @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
IVs: 0 Atk
Bold Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Toxic
-Recover
Outside of Skarmory, the team lacks noticeable physical bulk, making it susceptible to mons like Aerodactyl and Dugtrio. This is why I opt to use Porygon2 over the much more widespread SkarmBliss defensive core. Porygon2 can switch in on most physical attackers and take at least two physical attacks before going down. This is especially important for countering the otherwise team shattering DD sweepers like Salamence and Gyarados. Outside of that, Porygon2's physical bulk and Recover access means it can PP stall most physical attacks until my opponent opts to switch, or opts for a setup move, the latter of which opens Porygon2 to pressure with Toxic or BoltBeam. More importantly however Porygon2 has access to the Trace ability, letting it comfortably check and counter various Pokemon. Most Flygon sets can do absolutely nothing to harm Porygon2, Porygon switches in comfortably on a status move that can easily be done away with by tracing Natural Cure (also letting it stall out Blissey by mirroring her Toxic stall strats), and Porygon2 can comfortably RKO Dugtrio by tracing Arena Trap, tanking an Earthquake, and retaliating with Ice Beam. Ultimately, Porygon2 can comfortably stall out most mons in the tier fairly comfortably, and can eat an otherwise crippling status to open up for a safe switch into another mon.
Claydol @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Sassy Nature
-Earthquake
-Psychic
-Rapid Spin
-Light Screen
Besides Skarmory, none of my Pokemon have Spikes immunity so Rapid Spin support is paramount. Claydol is the obvious choice in my opinion since its STAB Psychic threatens to 2HKO Gengar, the tier's most common spinblocker. After a Light Screen, Gengar does next to no damage to specially defensive Claydol, even with super effective Ice Punches, and is more or less forced to either blow up or switch out. Earthquake is for dealing with Magneton, who walls a lot of the team, as well as TTar. Most of the time, the first thing I do when switching in Claydol is set up a Light Screen, this makes it so that whatever special attacker gets switched in to deal with Claydol won't be hitting very hard, and allows for an extremely safe switch in to whatever check I need, or in the case of something like Gengar or HP Ice Zapdos, it lets me stay in on an otherwise losing MU. I only Rapid Spin if I'm certain a spinblocker won't come in to stop me.
Vileplume @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyl
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpD / 96 Spe
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA
Calm Nature
-Hidden Power {Grass}
-Sludge Bomb
-Leech Seed
-Sleep Powder
So we've finally reached the star of the show. How does Vileplume compliment this team? The main thing Vileplume is here to do is check bulky waters. Against a mon like Suicune, Swampert, or Milotic, Vileplume can comfortably tank at least 2 Ice Beams, then click Sleep Powder and effectively invalidate one of your opponent's threats. From there, Leech Seed is pretty much completely safe to both recover some of the damage that Vileplume has taken, and allow for a safer switch in to something else. Vileplume's key advantage over something like Celebi is how it isn't forced out by Toxic thanks to its Poison-typing, meaning it can hard wall a surprising number of mons that either mandate Toxic for damage (non-Drill Peck Skarm variants) or don't carry a good attack to use against Plume (non-Ice Beam Milotic variants). For actual attacking moves, I opt for HP Grass and Sludge Bomb. Sludge Bomb on a Calm Nature might seem counterintuitive, but even at minimum attack, Vileplume Sludge Bomb can 3HKO standard Celebi sets, while Vileplume can comfortably tank Celebi's Psychic, provided a Light Screen is up. And without Psychic, Celebi is a sitting duck against Vileplume, forcing a switch out. Poison-typing also makes Breloom a non-issue since outside of Spore there isn't really anything Breloom can do to threaten Vileplume, even without physical defense investment. HP Grass is used over Giga Drain or Razor Leaf since it's pretty much objectively a better grass move. The only HP Vileplume would consider running over Grass is Fire, but given how important Vileplume's Grass STAB is for threatening Water-types, a winning MU into Skarmory and Forretress isn't remotely worth the sacrifice.
If you want to build this team a little more seriously, you can run this exact set on Venusaur, who has both a better BST and a better ability in Overgrowth. In particular, Venusaur's higher base speed means you don't have to allocate any investment towards speed in order to get the jump on neutral Swampert, and can put that towards even more special bulk or better physical bulk if so desired.
Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Meteor Mash
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Explosion
Metagross offers the power needed to overcome enemy stall teams, with a banded Meteor Mash threatening a K.O. against most mons in the tier. Rock Slide and Earthquake provide coverage into everything that isn't threatened by Meteor Mash while Explosion is a comfortable way of clearing out an extremely threatening physical wall. Metagross usually enters the game late, or switches in on something like a predicted Aerodactyl Double Edge to threaten punching a serious hole in the enemy team.
Nothing much more to say on my end. I'm fully aware this team probably isn't the best, and that Vileplume would be much better as a Venusaur, but I'm just happy with what success I've been able to accomplish with this jank team on ladder, and hopefully inspire others to experiment with their favourites and see how far they can go.
Without further ado, here's what I came up with:
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Fire Blast
Two very noteworthy things about this team is that its very slow and its very stally. As such, I've found that I need sand up right away and that sand absolutely needs to stick. Lead TTar just accomplishes this better than anything else I can run. Rock Slide's there for lead Zapdos and Ninjask, Brick Break hits enemy TTar leads, and Fire Blast is for hitting Skarmory and Forretress. The fourth moveslot can really be anything, but I choose to run Earthquake, since Jirachi can be incredibly painful for the rest of the team to deal with. In the lategame, TTar serves as an important check for mons like Charizard, Skarmory, Blissey, and Forretress, making it important that TTar switches out on a bad MU like Swampert.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Drill Peck
- Spikes
- Toxic
- Roar
Standard spikes support Skarmory. TTar and Skarmory set the stage for a standard "sand and spikes" stall setup. The team lacks fast and heavy hitters, and opts for a slower wincon because of that. For EVs, I opt for Special Defense investment over Physical Defense since even without investment, Skarmory can take pretty much any physical attack fairly comfortably. I opt for Drill Peck in the fourth moveslot since most people don't see it coming and will try things like Focus Punch on Breloom, despite Skarm Drill Peck pretty comfortably OHKOing.
Porygon2 @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
IVs: 0 Atk
Bold Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Toxic
-Recover
Outside of Skarmory, the team lacks noticeable physical bulk, making it susceptible to mons like Aerodactyl and Dugtrio. This is why I opt to use Porygon2 over the much more widespread SkarmBliss defensive core. Porygon2 can switch in on most physical attackers and take at least two physical attacks before going down. This is especially important for countering the otherwise team shattering DD sweepers like Salamence and Gyarados. Outside of that, Porygon2's physical bulk and Recover access means it can PP stall most physical attacks until my opponent opts to switch, or opts for a setup move, the latter of which opens Porygon2 to pressure with Toxic or BoltBeam. More importantly however Porygon2 has access to the Trace ability, letting it comfortably check and counter various Pokemon. Most Flygon sets can do absolutely nothing to harm Porygon2, Porygon switches in comfortably on a status move that can easily be done away with by tracing Natural Cure (also letting it stall out Blissey by mirroring her Toxic stall strats), and Porygon2 can comfortably RKO Dugtrio by tracing Arena Trap, tanking an Earthquake, and retaliating with Ice Beam. Ultimately, Porygon2 can comfortably stall out most mons in the tier fairly comfortably, and can eat an otherwise crippling status to open up for a safe switch into another mon.
Claydol @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Sassy Nature
-Earthquake
-Psychic
-Rapid Spin
-Light Screen
Besides Skarmory, none of my Pokemon have Spikes immunity so Rapid Spin support is paramount. Claydol is the obvious choice in my opinion since its STAB Psychic threatens to 2HKO Gengar, the tier's most common spinblocker. After a Light Screen, Gengar does next to no damage to specially defensive Claydol, even with super effective Ice Punches, and is more or less forced to either blow up or switch out. Earthquake is for dealing with Magneton, who walls a lot of the team, as well as TTar. Most of the time, the first thing I do when switching in Claydol is set up a Light Screen, this makes it so that whatever special attacker gets switched in to deal with Claydol won't be hitting very hard, and allows for an extremely safe switch in to whatever check I need, or in the case of something like Gengar or HP Ice Zapdos, it lets me stay in on an otherwise losing MU. I only Rapid Spin if I'm certain a spinblocker won't come in to stop me.
Vileplume @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyl
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpD / 96 Spe
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA
Calm Nature
-Hidden Power {Grass}
-Sludge Bomb
-Leech Seed
-Sleep Powder
So we've finally reached the star of the show. How does Vileplume compliment this team? The main thing Vileplume is here to do is check bulky waters. Against a mon like Suicune, Swampert, or Milotic, Vileplume can comfortably tank at least 2 Ice Beams, then click Sleep Powder and effectively invalidate one of your opponent's threats. From there, Leech Seed is pretty much completely safe to both recover some of the damage that Vileplume has taken, and allow for a safer switch in to something else. Vileplume's key advantage over something like Celebi is how it isn't forced out by Toxic thanks to its Poison-typing, meaning it can hard wall a surprising number of mons that either mandate Toxic for damage (non-Drill Peck Skarm variants) or don't carry a good attack to use against Plume (non-Ice Beam Milotic variants). For actual attacking moves, I opt for HP Grass and Sludge Bomb. Sludge Bomb on a Calm Nature might seem counterintuitive, but even at minimum attack, Vileplume Sludge Bomb can 3HKO standard Celebi sets, while Vileplume can comfortably tank Celebi's Psychic, provided a Light Screen is up. And without Psychic, Celebi is a sitting duck against Vileplume, forcing a switch out. Poison-typing also makes Breloom a non-issue since outside of Spore there isn't really anything Breloom can do to threaten Vileplume, even without physical defense investment. HP Grass is used over Giga Drain or Razor Leaf since it's pretty much objectively a better grass move. The only HP Vileplume would consider running over Grass is Fire, but given how important Vileplume's Grass STAB is for threatening Water-types, a winning MU into Skarmory and Forretress isn't remotely worth the sacrifice.
If you want to build this team a little more seriously, you can run this exact set on Venusaur, who has both a better BST and a better ability in Overgrowth. In particular, Venusaur's higher base speed means you don't have to allocate any investment towards speed in order to get the jump on neutral Swampert, and can put that towards even more special bulk or better physical bulk if so desired.
Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Meteor Mash
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Explosion
Metagross offers the power needed to overcome enemy stall teams, with a banded Meteor Mash threatening a K.O. against most mons in the tier. Rock Slide and Earthquake provide coverage into everything that isn't threatened by Meteor Mash while Explosion is a comfortable way of clearing out an extremely threatening physical wall. Metagross usually enters the game late, or switches in on something like a predicted Aerodactyl Double Edge to threaten punching a serious hole in the enemy team.
Nothing much more to say on my end. I'm fully aware this team probably isn't the best, and that Vileplume would be much better as a Venusaur, but I'm just happy with what success I've been able to accomplish with this jank team on ladder, and hopefully inspire others to experiment with their favourites and see how far they can go.
