Attack of the Vicious Rabid Racoon (Peaked #1)

[(makeup)]

Changes are not bold.

Introduction

Most of you guys probably now me as a UU player, but I've actually gotten really into Little Cup. Unlike all the other tiers, it actually consists of heavy prediction, and it really matters what Pokemon are on your team a lot. No two Pokemon are really the same, so it's just a little more fun than the other tiers. Now about the team; I actually made this team to test a few Pokemon I was writing analyses for, and I guess I just have a soft spot for Little Cup. I decided to base the team off of Zigzagoon because it is one of the first Pokemon I have ever had and it's just so cute! Anyway, here's the team.

In depth

Kojofuu (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Regeneration EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Hi Jump Kick
- Stone Edge
- Payback
- U-turn

Mankey is pretty awesome Pokemon in general, and leads this team off perfectly. Mankey has been here since day one, and is always reliable. He is the fastest Fighting-type in Little Cup, and one of the best Scarfers. With Close Combat, he does extreme amounts of damage. His resistance to Stealth Rock and only two weaknesses allows him to switch in a lot, and he never seems to be knocked out. Punishment is literally the best name for the attack; it punishes any Ghost in its way. U-turn is great for scouting and deactivating Sturdy/Focus Sashes, as well as doing some damage when I just need to get out of there. Ice Punch was chosen over Rock Slide to smash Gligar, who always seems to be around somewhere.

Mankey generally holds to the together really well, revenge killing many threats that would otherwise destroy my team, notably Dragon Dance Zuruggu, who Mankey out-speeds after a Dragon Dance and OHKOs with Close Combat. Vital Spirit is also pretty awesome, allowing me to always stay awake. With all those Sunny Day teams trolling the metagame, about 50% of them have Sleep Powder somewhere, whether it's Oddish Bellsprout, Bulbasaur or any troll little Grass-type. The EVs aim to maximize Speed and Attack, while the rest are dumped into HP for added bulk. Mankey is a pretty kick-ass lead overall.

***Kojofuu replaced Mankey because I was done testing it and Kojofuu simply outclasses it, despite its terrible name.

- - -

Raccoon (Zigzagoon) (M) @ Salac Berry
Trait: Pickup
EVs: 196 Atk / 28 Def / 28 SDef / 196 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Belly Drum
- ExtremeSpeed
- Return
- Seed Bomb

Umm...WOW. That's really all I can say. Zigzagoon does so much, it's incredible. Although he doesn't have everything going for him with a terrible Physical movepool and pretty horrible stats, he still goes a long way. With Wynaut almost guaranteeing I'll set up somehow, Zigzagoon has no trouble taking out whole teams. The point is to set up Belly Drum with the help of Wynaut, then Salac Berry will activate with the help of Gluttony. Now I have 52 Attack, 22 Speed, and a 2 priority move. Extremspeed is my main sweeping move, and really rips apart anything that doesn't resist it. Return is a stronger, slower version of Extremespeed, and gets a few notable KOs that Extremespeed doesn't (Return has a 9% chance to OHKO max HP Evolution Stone Gligar, and a 93% chance after Stealth Rock). Seed Bomb is pretty much all I have left, but it does quite a lot. It will always KO standard Misdreavus, has a high chance to KO standard Gastly (who even resists it), and will always KO 252/252 Evolution Stone Pururiru, assuming I've used Belly Drum.

Zigzagoon really does everything I want it to, and I don't see it being replaced anytime soon. With Magnemite taking out Steel-types like a pro, I really have nothing stopping my sweep. Zigzagoon is a pretty good Ghost resist too, and just fits on the team so well. I can honestly say 60% of my battles with this team have resulted in the attack of Zigzagoon. He's just great!

- - -

isithumanidk (Wynaut) (M) @ Oran Berry
Trait: Shadow Tag
EVs: 236 HP / 132 Def / 132 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Destiny Bond
- Mirror Coat
- Counter
- Encore

Wynaut is pretty cool. With Evolution Stone, he becomes quite bulky, and can take most super effective hits. The purpose of Wynaut is to switch in on something stupid who's using a support move, and then use Encore on it. Now, the opponent is trapped thanks to Shadow Tag, and has to use the support move. I take the second turn to switch to Zigzagoon, while the opponent uses their stupid move again. Now, the opponent has either use their stupid move or switch out. That means I have one free turn to set up Belly Drum, and I pretty much win after that. Wynaut is gold. Because I lack a Pursuit-user, I decided to use Destiny Bond in the last slot. Counter and Mirror Coat are pretty self-explanatory, and with Encore and Shadow Tag, they can often remove big threats from the game.

Destiny Bond also works really well in conjunction with Encore and Shadow Tag. If I'm unsure what my opponent will do and I'm at low health, I can Destiny Bond. Now my opponent can either kill me and die with me, or set up. That means I can Encore and either kill them or get free set up with Zigzagoon. Wynaut is pretty much a complex killing machine, just like its big brother, Wobbufett. With Evolution Stone, I reach 29/21/19 defenses, which if you don't know, is really, really good in Little Cup. The EVs aim to balance defenses and maximize HP.

- - -

Magnet (Magnemite) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 36 Def / 160 SAtk / 240 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Magnet Rise

Magnemite serves a very important role in this team: Steel Killer. Zigzagoon can't do crap to a Steel-type, so Magnemite is here to destroy any Steel-type that ever lived. 160 Special Attack EVs get me to a huge 19 Special Attack stat. 240 maxes out my speed to 14, and 36 Defense EVs gets me to 14 Defenses. Cool, right? Thunderbolt 2HKOs pretty much anything that doesn't resist it, and Hidden Power Fire complements its type coverage pretty well. Substitute allows me to set up on random stuff trying to status me or even a support move Wynaut Encored. Hidden Power Fire eliminates Steel-types like Tesshiido or opposing Magnemite, as well as random Grass-type like the ever-so-annoying Monmen. Magnet Rise is probably one of the most important parts of this set, allowing me to wall Gligar who often come in on me and resist QuakeEdge.

Magnemite is pretty simple in general, that's really it for him. I'm thinking of even replace Hidden Power Fire with Hidden Power Ice to beat Gligar, but it leaves me walled against Tesshiido and other Magnemite.

- - -

Scorpion (Gligar) (M) @ Evolution Stone
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Tail
- Earthquake
- Roost

Where do I even start? Gligar does so much for this team, bringing many useful resistances and immunities to the table. With Evolution Stone, Gligar doesn't even need defensive EVs, leaving him with 26/25/19 defenses. Gligar also has a very high speed stat of 19, as well as a respectable attack stat of 14 with no investment. Substitute is that ever-so-reliable scouting move, and works very well in conjunction with Roost. Roost removes that nasty Flying typing, giving me a resistance to Rock, which helps a lot against random Stone Edges. Earthquake dishes out good damage to almost anything, and Stone Edge complements its coverage almost perfectly.


Pretty much Gligar has excellent typing, stat distribution, a huge movepool, a handy ability and a reliable STAB attack. No wonder he's used on 24% of Little Cup teams, right? I'm considering using Aqua Tail in place of Stone Edge to hit opposing Gligar and bulky Ground-types like Phanpy, although I havn't seen any yet. I'm also considering running Stealth Rock over Substitute, as my team lacks Stealth Rock. Some suggestions on that would be really helpful!

***Changed to Swords Dance set to deal with opposing Gligar.

- - -

Bird (Murkrow) (M) @ Evolution Stone
Trait: Mischievous Heart
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 SAtk / 188 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Pursuit
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Yeah Murkrow! I wanted to patch up my Ground weakness a little more and I wanted a Pursuit-user to hepl Zigzagoon sweep so I decided to use Murkrow before it gets banned. This is a little nifty set I created (or at least I think I created, havn't seen it anywhere else) and it works surprisingly well. Unlike the standard Sucker Punch, I use Pursuit to fully remove Ghost-types from the game, making Zigzagoon's job easier. Brave Bird does a crap-load of damage to everything, and Heat Wave hits Steel-types hard. Sadly, the combination of Brave Bird and Heat Wave isn't legal with Mischievous Heart, so I'm stuck with Insomnia. I'm thinking of switching to Super Luck though, since Mankey has Vital Spirit. Let me know what you think of that. Murkrow is really my only answer to a ton of stuff, most notably Gastly, Misdreavus and Monmen, who screw up my team otherwise. Abra can also be quite difficult to put up with, and Murkrow's Pursuit solves that problem. Murkrow also can act as a surprise Steel killer with Heat Wave if Magnemite is dead or something.

The EVs aim to abuse Murkrow's ability to reach 19 Speed, as well as max out my Attack stat. The rest were dumped into Special Attack to give Heat Wave a little kick, and it really does. Heat Wave OHKOs standard Tesshiido. Evolution Stone was chosen over Life Orb to add a little bit of bulky, giving me 22/15/13 defenses, which are okay. Roost helps recover Brave Bird damage, and surprisingly, I find a lot of time to use it against random crap like Monmen.

***Changed Heat Wave to Hidden Power [Ice] to Deal with Gligar, which means MH too, woot!

Conclusion

That's my team with very creative nicknames and a very detailed conclusion. Rate/Hate/Steal!
​

 

[(makeup)]

RAWR IMA THREAT
RAWR IMA SEMI THREAT
RAWR IMA NON THREAT

Bachuru: Gligar can generally deal with its Electric moves, Magnemite walls those without HP Fire

Bellsprout: Mankey and Murkrow can both come in on Sleep Powder then Ice Punch/Brave Bird respectively. Wynaut can deal with it if someone is already asleep.

Bronzor: Magnemite; Murkrow has Heat Wave.

Bulbasaur: Mankey and Murkrow can both come in on Sleep Powder then Ice Punch/Brave Bird respectively. Wynaut can deal with it if someone is already asleep.

Chinchou: Wynaut destroys it, Gligar can come in on Electric attacks if it's scarfed (which it always is).

Cleffa: Mankey pounds it into the Ground, it can't touch Gligar behind a sub and Wynaut can probably Encore a healing move to get Zigzagoon time to set up.

Croagunk: Murkrow rapes it; so does Wynaut; so does Gligar.

Cubone: Cubone can be troublesome with Thick Club, but Gligar generally takes care of it.

Dokkora: What is this I don't even...Wynaut pwns it, Murkrow rapes it, Gligar sexually assaults it.

Dratini: I can't imagine how it would set up, but Gligar can take it fairly and Wynaut does well on it. Mankey can always revenge it and Zigzagoon has Extremespeed in hard times.

Elekid: I generally have to play around it. Gligar takes electric moves, Magnemite takes Ice Moves, Mankey plain beats it, and Wynaut beats variants without Volt Change.

Gastly: Murkrow just totally embarrasses it with Pursuit; Magnemite beats it if I have Magnet Rise/Substitute up, and Mankey has Punishment.

Gligar: I don't know how to take this down. Mankey has Ice Punch, but that's about it. Luckily, Mankey always seems to be alive.

Hippopotas: I have literally nothing to beat it. Pretty much I have to Encore its Stealth Rock with Wynaut then go to Zigzagoon, Belly Drum, then Seed Bomb.

Houndour: Mankey is always alive and beats it; Gligar beats it; even Murkrow beats it.

Kojofuu: This thing has a terrible name. Seriously. Anyway, Murkrow beats it, Gligar beats it, Wynaut beats it and Mankey beats it.

Komatana: Mankey; Gligar; Magnemite.

Meditite: Murkrow and Wynaut downright beat it. Gligar beats it if it lacks Ice Punch, which is normally the case.

Misdreavus: Murkrow pwns it. Other than that, it's pretty annoying.

Moguryuu: Seriously, this thing is nothing like Doryuuzu. Gligar does everything.

Monmen: Murkrow, Mankey has Ice Punch, Magnemite can wall it with a sub then HP Fire, Wynaut can Encore one of its stupid moves.

Munchlax: Mankey. Wynaut can Encore Pursuit and Zigzagoon can set up on that.

Murkrow: It can be annoying at times. Mankey always has Ice Punch though and I have my own Murkrow and Gligar. It's kind of a "I can't hit him but he can't hit me" thing.

Paras: Lol. Mankey can't sleep and has Ice Punch; Murkrow can't sleep and has Heat Wave and Brave Bird.

Porygon: I have Mankey and Wynaut.

Pururiru: If Wynaut manages to Encore a Ghost move, I go to Zigzagoon and it's good game. Mankey has Punishment, Murkrow has Pursuit and can Roost-stall it.

Shelder: Zigzagoon and Mankey can both revenge it; Wynaut can pwn it. Not really a threat as it's quite weak.

Tesshiido: A certain little magnet and Mankey destroy this thing alone. Murkrow has Heat Wave too.

Vulpix: Sun teams are stupid.

Zuruggu: Mankey outspeeds after a Dragon Dance and Close Combats, Gligar beats those without Ice Punch.

*Please note Mankey is always alive and is the last Pokemon to die 99% of the time. This means I can rely on Mankey as many times as I need to remove a certain threat.

 

[Nails]

Zuruggu shits on your team if it gets 2 dds, and if they have a wynaut then you lose. But it's gonna be banned, so you don't have to worry much about it. I actually haven't played with zigzagoon, but it seems to me like it takes a ton of effort to set up. As far as its set goes, drop return for night slash or something to hit komatana, which lets you mind game it into sucker punching on the espeed or night slashing on the ohko move.

The team looks well built to remove the counters of ziggy, but the fact that it (seems) so unreliable turns me off from it.

Edit: Looking at your team, a scarf wynaut (yes it exists) seems like it might actually be useful for you, as it lets you get a guaranteed encore + free turn.

 

[Darkamber8828]

Gluttony and Espeed are illegal. Smogon dislikes that kind of stuff.

...

You can just use Substitute over Return, which is pretty superfluous and is mostly filler, and helpfully blocks things like Scarfers and priority.

Monmen kinda fucks with ya though.

Also, Evo-Stone SB Clamperl can take a priority hit or two, it outspeeds everything after a Shell Break, and kills everything too.

 

[(makeup)]

Zuruggu shits on your team if it gets 2 dds, and if they have a wynaut then you lose. But it's gonna be banned, so you don't have to worry much about it. I actually haven't played with zigzagoon, but it seems to me like it takes a ton of effort to set up. As far as its set goes, drop return for night slash or something to hit komatana, which lets you mind game it into sucker punching on the espeed or night slashing on the ohko move.

The team looks well built to remove the counters of ziggy, but the fact that it (seems) so unreliable turns me off from it.

Edit: Looking at your team, a scarf wynaut (yes it exists) seems like it might actually be useful for you, as it lets you get a guaranteed encore + free turn.

Zuruggu doesn't really get time to set up (unless they have Wynaut, of course), but even then, it only gets one DD, and Mankey still kills it. Zigzagoon also doesn't get Night Slash, which really sucks. I've never used Scarf Wynaut; do you think you have a set I could use?

Gluttony and Espeed are illegal. Smogon dislikes that kind of stuff.

...

You can just use Substitute over Return, which is pretty superfluous and is mostly filler, and helpfully blocks things like Scarfers and priority.

Monmen kinda fucks with ya though.

Also, Evo-Stone SB Clamperl can take a priority hit or two, it outspeeds everything after a Shell Break, and kills everything too.

I hate to say this, but if PO allows it, I'm going to use Gluttony as it's much better than Pickup, and PO allows Gluttony + Extremspeed + Belly Drum. Monmen gets ass-raped by Murkrow, who has two SE moves, Roost to keep it going, and Pursuit if Monmen decides to switch out when it realizes how much it fails.

Clamperl @ Evolution Stone (252 EVs, +Nature, +2) Surf vs Wynaut @ Evolution Stone (236/132 EVs, Neutral Nature): 65.5 - 82.7% (19 - 24 HP)

Clamperl won't be stopping me anytime soon.

 

[Crux]

You should probably run Scarf Kojofuu over Mankey, it can do everything Mankey can, plus more. Mankey is always outclassed by Kojofuu.

Kojofuu @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Regeneration
EVs: 236 Atk / 32 Def / 236 Spe
Adaman/Jolly
- Stone Edge
- Payback
- Hi Jump Kick
- U-Turn

However, it is worth noting that you lose your only Gligar counter. Running Swords Dance over Substitute and keeping Aqua Tail on Gligar should help with that. Additionally you may want to run HP Ice over Heat Wave on Murkrow because the coverage is redundant considering you have Magnemite anyway.

 

[(makeup)]

Thanks for the rate. Funny you mentioned Kojofuu, I was going to switch right after I was done playtest Mankey (I'm writing its analysis). But yeah, playtest is no reason to not use the best Pokemon I can. I've used Swords Dance Gligar before and it's pretty awesome, I like that suggestion. Also, HP Ice on Murkrow seems like a good idea, as it still rapes Monmen. Thanks for the rate!

 

[Sir Koopaman]

You're weak to Sunny Day teams, because with all those Grasses with a boost in the sun, a Vulpix, and an Electric/Ice, you will die.

 

[(makeup)]

I know, if you see my threat list, I have no way to deal with it. I lot of them carry Growth though, so I can usually Wynaut them then sweep with Zigzagoon. I don't know what counters sun though, as there are no Fire/Flying-types in LC

 

[Crux]

Change Stone Edge to Roost on Gligar for better survivability (you do lose the ability to hit Mantyke but you have other stuff that can do that and team preview lets you know if it's there.)

Substitute over Magnet Rise on Magnemite allows you to better deal with sun teams (although Bronzor becomes slightly more problematic.)

If you're really desperate you could try Scarf Psyduck over Scarf Kojofuu, but then you lose your Zuruggu counter.

Rain Dance on either Gligar or Magnemite is also a solution.

 

[(makeup)]

Change Stone Edge to Roost on Gligar for better survivability (you do lose the ability to hit Mantyke but you have other stuff that can do that and team preview lets you know if it's there.)

I don't really enjoy being walled by almost every Grass-type in the game. I think Stone Edge is pretty necessary. Also, I'd rather just kill stuff than recover.

Substitute over Magnet Rise on Magnemite allows you to better deal with sun teams (although Bronzor becomes slightly more problematic.)

Did you read the full set?

If you're really desperate you could try Scarf Psyduck over Scarf Kojofuu, but then you lose your Zuruggu counter.

Rain Dance on either Gligar or Magnemite is also a solution.

Rain Dance is a pretty bad idea since it hinders HP Fire and Gligar can't make use of it at all. And yeah, then Zuruggu is a problem.

 

[athleteandy1]

This is a good team, just one little criticism: change all the descriptions and stuff from Mankey to Kojofuu and update it

 

[(makeup)]

I'll do that and update the threat list, just later because I'm lazy.

 

[Darkamber8828]

Posting to say Payback sucks, run Naive and HP Ice on Kojofu.

Why run Evo-stone on Wynaut? Oran's better. Particularly since you have more HP to Counter/Mirror Coat. Sure, you can't kill Zuruggu, but Murkrow kills it anyway.

 

[(makeup)]

Seems like a good idea
Evo stone is really to make it bulkier, and I don't know if Oran will do that much with Wynaut's really high HP

 

[Moo]

Actually, Evo stone is ok. If you want to bring out the support aspect of Wynaut (encore) leave it on because you will be bulkier and will have more chances to set up with Zig (because you can take more hits :p)

Great team :D!

 

[(makeup)]

thanks!

 

[(makeup)]

three day bump plus I made it to #1!

 

[Sledge]

Team rating really isn't my thing, but I noticed a couple issues with this team from a technical standpoint, so I'll try to address those.

On Wynaut, because it doesn't have consistent recovery, and because the more hp damage it takes, the more it gives back, there is no reason at all to use evo stone. Oran berry will not only make it last longer, but it will also do more total damage back.

On Gligar as well, evo stone is not as good when there is no other source of recovery, so the only thing I would suggest is changing evo stone to oran berry, or putting roost over one of your attacks (I would put it over stone edge).

I hate to say this, but if PO allows it, I'm going to use Gluttony as it's much better than Pickup, and PO allows Gluttony + Extremspeed + Belly Drum.

Even if PO allows it, it is still impossible to replicate in-game and abusing that knowingly is generally considered cheating. Shoddy never had any restrictions on Pomeg Glitch natures, or even level-up moves on genderless Pokemon, but they were still strictly forbidden.

btdubs, grats on making it to #1!

 

[(makeup)]

Thanks :D
Never tried Oran Wynaut, but all these people are suggesting it so I'll give it a shot. Kokoloko suggested a defensive spread on Gligar on PO, with 156 HP and 76 SpD, I'll use that with Roost over Stone Edge (although it leaves me walled by most Grass-types. Oh well). And sure, I'll use Pickup.

Although now that I've hit #1, I've decided to retire this team and help patch up the weaknesses of my old one with the help of koko, who really knows more about LC than me. Thanks for the comments everyone has given and advice!

(plus I'll update this one last time but probably not afterward)