btboy zupl breakdown

btboy zupl notes

General summary:
- Common weak points that I see: Offensive Silvally formes, be it Sub SD ones, aoa, or Modest special; Ebelt Evire with Flamethrower (HP Grass too if u really want to cteam the high Golem usage); Sub SD Tox Bouff; Z-MF Pinsir beats most of the non-Gourg-XL teams; strong Fire-types match up well into him (Rap can run a lure set with Ebelt to catch Golem); stall mons/builds; Simisage; attackers faster than Simis or ones that trade vs Kadabra ad/or Purugly well.
- Doesn't use defensive teams. Most of his teams are some form of offense, ranging from HO to bulky offense. He uses a balance build here and there.
- btboy has a tendency to not use Scarfers. He relies on Sash Kadabra + priority user for speed control.
	- Fast attackers and mid-speed breakers look like they do well into his non-HO builds.
	- He has used Gluttony Salac on Simis.
- He's a big Golem fan. He has 0 Bronzor usage this ZUPL. He rarely uses SR Torterra. If he uses Tort, it's often setup or CB.
- His teams always pack Knock Off and he often uses Dark-types.
- He often doesn't use more than one pivot. To this point, his Evire usage has been very low. He builds in ways that punish Scarf Evire well.
- btboy doesn't use status as much as he uses Knock. Similarly, I didn't see any clerics this ZUPL. I remember he did bring Granbull in Olympiad or SMPL, idr which.
- He leans into counter teams. He looks for mons and sets that match up well into his opps, which opens btboy up to holes defensively.
	- For example, his teams lack sturdy Fire resists a lot of the time. He tends to be weak to mixed attackers and strong Darks too.
- Defensively, I think stall is generally decent vs btboy. I also feel that status spam + good defensive Pokemon win vs a lot of his teams.
	- Pyukumuku and Dusclops each wall a lot of his builds. Defensive Poliwrath looks surprisingly good vs his builds as well. Wisp Rapidash looks nice too b/c it's fast enough to pressure his offense teams and backbones + pressure setup with burn.
- When he uses Grimer-A, he usually goes for defensive spreads.
- I didn't focus too much on how he plays the game. From my experience and observations, btboy doesn't have a high ceiling compared to some other top SM players. At times he plays safe or misplays a sequence.


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Week 1: Suicide Lead Crustle / Sub Seed Ghostium Gourg-S / Sub SD Silv-Dragon / SD Busken / Sash Kadabra / Purugly

Weaknesses: No Volt immune, opts to punish Scarf Evire instead. No Scarfer is smth to exploit. Lack of pivots + HO means the team seems bad vs pressure (i.e., removing hazards in the game made it so btboy had issues vs Muk). No Poison = Tspikes weak.

Mons that look good: Rotom-S, SD Tox Bouff, Z-RD Swanna, Jolly Sub SD Silv-Dragon, Dusclops, mixed Floatzel, Purugly, Golduck + Rain, Z-MF Pinsir, Pyukumuku, Swoobat on Screens, Ninjask

Mons that look decent: AV or Rindo Wishi, Def Beheeyem, Bronzor, Grimer-A, Sneak Gourg-XL, Rapidash, Sash Kadabra, Flame Charge or Scarf Toucannon, Mareanie, Granbull, Silv-Electric, Endure WP Drifblim, & SD Bibarel on Screens.

Defensively, I think btboy's team loses to stall/Pyuku. A good backbone with Mawile or Granbull would also give this team issues. The team has 5/6 physical attackers which is a weak point. Something like Rapidash + Wishi would also pressure this team a fair bit because Silv-Dragon and Busken don't wat to switch into any attacks, and the team has no comfy Scald switch.

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Week 2: Golem / Gourg-XL / Lure Firium Muk / AV Kecelon / Offensive Silv-Water / CB Furfrou

Weaknesses: Lack of speed control was exposed this game b/c Greybaum was able to sweep with SD Pluff. I'm unsure if btboy had hazard removal. I doubt it b/c giving up U-turn on Off Silv-Water sucks, which means btboy's team is bad into hazards. Only Golem resists SR, which makes the hazards weakness worse. No TSpike absorber either is bad. No Psychic resist sticks out + nothing faster than Kadabra, so Kadabra clicks freely most of the time.

Mons that look good: Mixed HP Grass Evire, Rotom-S, Simisage, Z-MM Swanna, Beheeyem, Cacturne, Busken, Kadabra, Rapidash, Silv-Dragon, Touc, Dusclops, Sub SD Silv-Dark, Lickilicky, SD Pluff.

Mons that look decent: Ebelt Evire, CG Bouff, Rapidash, Simisear, Sub Tox Lapras, Raichu, Trevenant, Golduck on Rain, Rampardos, Z-MF Pinsir, Silv-Elec, Swoobat on Screens.

Defensively, btboy's team has big weaknesses. No removal or Poison means rocks and tspikes smack this team. Stacking two Normals, Furf and Kec, leads to holes defensively like no Psychic resist and a general weakness to status. Like w1, there's no scarfer.

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Week 3: SR Tort / Grimer-A / Spikes Cacturne / Z-RD Swanna / Scarf Pinsir / Evire (I assume Ebelt)

Weaknesses: Team has no Normal resist and 3 Fire weak mons + Fire resist is Swanna, so Fires smack this build. I think btboy's hope would be to lure Simisear and Rap with Scarf Pinsir or rk with Sucker Cacturne, whereas vs Busken he has to limit set up. No pivots, or maybe Evire isn't Ebelt but a pivot set too, is a flaw I notice. I say flaw b/c not having pivots on bulky offense means you'll have a bad time trading.

Mons that look good: Fantom, Bouff, CB Komala, X-Scissor Crustle, Combusken, CB Furf, Rapidash, Simisear, Silv-Dragon (esp Sub SD), Touc, Mixed Silv-Fight, Z-MF Pinsir, Silv-Fighting, BU Vigoroth, SD Pluff, Vullaby

Mons that look decent: NP Z-Hyper Beam Sage, Grimer-A, Sub Punch Wrath, Altaria, Ice Beam Kecleon, Chatot (any set puts in work), Pawniard, Servine (more for Defog vs Tort + Cac), Purugly, Golduck + Armaldo on Rain, Lickilicky w/ good removal, Silvally, Z-Celebrate Glaceon, LO Basculin, Ninjask, Quilladin, Monferno

Defensively, I think a backbone around Licky + good removal would wall this team well. Smth like Mawile would be a nice option, though sturdier Dark resists like Silv-Fighting, Grimer-A, and Vullaby would be good too. Ik Vullaby is very niche, but it does work here b/c it walls Tort and Cacturne, and tanks most hits. I feel like the Evire is not Scarf, so having checks like fast Silv-Ground, Balloon Raichu, and Furf would help a lot. Also, Alt + Normal pivot would give this team trouble b/c Alt Defogs well and the team has no Normal resist.

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Week 4: CB Tort / SpD Wishi / Defog Silv-Elec / Sash Kadabra / SR Tox Psplit Helmet Mawile / Tail Glow Encore Volbeat

Weaknesses: btboy went for a full ct here with TG Volbeat and CB Tort w/ no scarfer. Mid speed breakers that pressure Mawile & Wishi should give this team a lot of trouble. Breakers like CB Komala, Ebelt Evire, Cacturne, and NP Grassium Sage do that. The team is relatively slow and has no Poison or cleric, so status users annoy this build. Offensive Silvs also annoy this build, which can be seen with Modest Silv-Dragon here.

Mons that look good: Ebelt Evire, Off Rotom-S, NP Simisage, Rockium Tort, CB Komala, LO Cacturne, Rapidash (esp CB), Modest Silv-Dragon, Chatot, Raichu, Modest Silv-Water, Pinsir, Silv-Elec, Glaceon, Taunt Vigoroth.

Mons that look decent: SD Leafeon, Def Beheeyem, SD EQ Bouff, Sub Punch Wrath, Combusken, mixed Touc, Lapras, Purugly, Ramp, Swoobat on Screens.

Defensively I think a solid backbone around Gourg-XL walls this team. Phys Def Bronzor looks annoying for btboy's team to deal with, as does a well-played Dusclops. The team doesn't look that good into stall either b/c Alt + Avalugg + Licky wall most of the team, and Pyuku + Grimer-A shut down Kadabra & Volbeat.

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Week 5: Grimer-A / Gourg-XL / Golem / Def Fantom / SD Flame Charge Normalium Silvally / Scarf Simipour

Weaknesses: Lack of pivots sticks out to me. I feel like the backbone can't afford to have anything chipped. In particular, on paper there's a lot of pressure for Grimer-A to take on special attackers. The team doesn't have a good Dark resist or Water switch. Scarf Simipour is also super easy to take advantage of.

Mons that look good: Ebelt Evire, Off Rotom-S, Swanna, Sub Tox Bouff, NP Simipour, Stomping Tantrum Cacturne, Combusken, Rapidash, Silv-Dragon, Simisear, Touc, Sub Lapras, Raichu, Sub SD Silv-Dark, Off Silv-Water, Rain Golduck, Silv-Elec, Glaceon.

Mons that look decent: NP Sage, Sash Kadabra, Chatot, Ice Beam Huntail, Basculin, SD Pluff.

Defensively, Toxic Golem gives this team trouble (unless Rotom-S packs HP Water). Phys Def Bronzor would also give this team some issues b/c it beats 4/6 or at least wears down everything but Grimer-A. Def Poliwrath does the same thing + can Circle Throw Silv. SR Mawile annoys this build b/c it clicks Knock freely and can run Toxic to really be annoying. Dusclops is similar to Bronzor in that only Grimer-A beats it. I see Granbull being somewhat annoying for this build too b/c nothing wants to switch into its coverage + Toxic. Stall looks like it 6-0s.

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Week 6: Suicide Lead Lycan-M / SD Silv-Dark (probs Sub) / Firium Simisear / SD Bibarel / Smash Crustle / Air Balloon Raichu (probs Focus Blast)

Weaknesses: Team doesn't really have the special bulk to trade vs stuff, which looks like a solid way to limit set up. As with any setup HO, positioning is key. While btboy's team has a lot of scary setup mons, they aren't super fast aside from Raichu. So, fast attackers like CB Furf, Z-MM Swanna, Purugly, and Kadabra should be able to out-pressure and win first. Idt btboy's team is set up well enough into Ditto, so Ditto could reverse sweep easily.

Mons that look good: Z Leafeon, Simisage, RP Tort, tank Wrath, Combusken, Kadabra, Furfrou, SD Silv-Dragon, aoa Floatzel, Raichu, Sub SD Silv-Dark, Off Silv-Water, Rain Golduck, Ditto, Wisp Gourg-S, SD Pluff.

Mons that look decent: Wishiwashi, Crustle, Rapidash, Chatot, Purugly, Glare Servine, Fraxure, Z-MF Pinsir, Rain Armaldo, Endure Drifblim, Huntail.

Defensively, obviously Pyuku or Ditto are great into setup HO. Shiinotic is a niche mon that matches up well into most of these sweepers. Wishi looks decent because it threatens Simisear + Crustle & it's risky for Bibarel and Silv-Dark to set up on it. Def Poliwrath annoys this team b/c it spams Circle Throw + Scald. Dusclops looks okay, Wisp more than Tox. Roar Quill looks annoying.

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Week 7 (Sketchy Ecchi Rain): Lead Dugtrio / Muk / Volbeat / Sub SD Armaldo / BD Wrath / Sub Golduck

I'm not going that deep here b/c it's Rain. Rain from btboy is clearly a move to switch up the scout + check his opp for being weak to it. In terms of what's good vs Rain, setting up hazards early goes a long way. Knock Off is key to catch Volbeat and limit Rain turns. Protect users are good too. Main thing is to not be super weak to Golduck and having stuff that trade vs Armaldo and Wrath. Armaldo is slow even at +2, so rocks + a scarfer is often enough for it. Stuff like Sash Kadabra, Gourg-S or XL, Swanna, bulky Fantom, and Leafeon give u enough room to beat Armaldo + Wrath. Main thing is to not give free turns because Armaldo and Golduck can Sub, which makes them way scarier.

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Semis: AV Ice Beam Kecleon / Z-Celeb Synth Leafeon / Lv. 99 SpD Wishi / Golem (creeps Gourg-XL) / Silv-Poison / Ditto

Weaknesses: Wishi + Golem + Silv-Poison structures tend to be weak into strong Psychics, Darks, and Grounds, as well as attackers like Off Fantom, SD Tort, and CB Furf. All CB Furf has to do is catch Golem early to be able to spam Return. Aside from Ditto and Kecleon, the is relatively slow. Simisage can easily pick the team apart. Offensive Silvs also annoy builds like this. Golem/Wishi/Silv-P structures have to play around Sub Wrath well. The team relies on Leaf to break, so if that's checked then the team probably ends up on the backfoot. Idt Ditto is enough anti-setup here because setup mons like Sage, Silv-Dragon/Dark, and Chatot can attack instead to chip everything.

Mons that look good: Ebelt Evire, Off Fantom, Simisage, Tort, Bouff, Sub Wrath, Sub SD Cacturne, Silv-Dragon, Touc, Silv-Dark, Off Silv-Water, Silv-Elec, Gourg-S, SD Pluff, Machoke.

Mons that look decent: Leafeon, Phys Defog Swanna, Beheeyem, CB Komala, Combusken, CB or lure Rapidash, Chatot, Sub Lapras, Silv-Fighting, Scarf Pinsir, Silv-Normal, Vigoroth.

Defensively, teams like btboy's tend to have some issues in the Wishi mirror b/c Wishi is only switch-in to itself (lvl 99 Wishi shows this cuz btboy wants the slower U-turn). Gourg-XL annoys this build b/c it checks a lot. btboy had Ice Beam Kecleon to lure Gourg though. Helmet Mawile checks Kecleon + Leaf, so Psplit or Wish support from Licky allows Mawile to shut down btboy's offensive core. btboy's Golem is likely some tank spread b/c it was faster than Gourg-XL. You should be mindful of those EV tweaks. btboy's team doesn't have a good stall mu. Another good defensive vs btboy's team is Bronzor. Zor walls 4/6 and nothing want to come in on Psywave. As long as it doesn't get Knocked, it's good. Grimer-A is nice too b/c it checks Leaf and spreads Poison + Knock is free. Alt looks decent b/c it checks a lot and Roost + Toxic stalls Kecleon. Def Beheeyem or Duo have some merit too b/c they tank hits and fire back.