ORAS LC Child's Play (Webs Offense)

[Hogg]

Child's Play
A Webs RMT
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Intro
I'd never really had the chance to play much Little Cup - I almost exclusively play UU these days, and when I mess around with another tier it's usually an older gen. Until deciding to make a go of Grand Slam, this was a tier I never paid much attention to.

That said, when I was preparing for Grand Slam, I decided I would try my best to seriously learn LC. From dipping my toe into the tier, it was a ton of fun, and I went back through as many tour replays as I could find to learn the meta. In general it seemed that since the release of ORAS, hazard offense and in particular Webs was really brutal in this metagame, so I decided to build a Webs team to use in the Open.

Overall, the team was way more successful than I could have hoped for. While I did eventually get knocked out of LC Open, I used this team in five games during my run, winning all of them. I also gave this team to some friends who also did not play LC, and they all did consistently well with it, using it to get wins and upsets against LC regulars such as Rowan and Celestavian.​

Teambuilding
There was no great secret to building this team: I wanted webs, I wanted a way to keep them down as much as possible, and I wanted offensive powerhouses that could break through the opposing team's walls. In general I think it's important for a team like this to have a solid hazard core, a couple of decent defensive pivots and a strong, fast offensive core with good coverage (crazy, right??), so I built with that in mind.

For my hazard core, I started with Surskit and Pumpkaboo-S, and added Pawniard both to discourage Defog and to pull double duty by setting Rocks. Pumpkaboo-S also worked as a solid specially defensive pivot, and I added bulky fast Mienfoo to give me a reliable switch-in to opposing Pawniards. For my offensive core, I messed around with a few different options, but in the end settled on Sash Abra and LO Cranidos. Both were picked for their incredible coverage and their ability to beat out threats such as Fletchling that trouble most offensive Webs teams.

Not too much more to say - I'll cover the rest in the actual sets!

Surskit @ Focus Sash
Ability: Swift Swim | EVs: 36 HP / 20 Def / 196 SpA / 20 SpD / 236 Spe | Timid Nature
Sticky Web | Hydro Pump | Ice Beam | Protect

Can't have a Webs team without Webs, and from testing Surskit was by far the most reliable Webs setter. As the fastest Webs setter around, she can almost always get Webs up against any opponent. EVs max out Speed and Special Attack, which is all that really matters on Surskit, but why waste EVs? Hydro Pump over Scald for my STAB of choice because it actually hits surprisingly hard even with Surskit's puny 14 SpAtt. Ice Beam nails Grass types and has solid overall coverage in the tier. I used to have Signal Beam in over Protect for a more reliable STAB, but it's stupid to lose to lead 'mons with Fake Out.​

Pumpkaboo-Super @ Eviolite

Ability: Frisk | EVs: 204 HP / 36 Def / 236 SpD / 28 Spe | Careful Nature
Will-O-Wisp | Shadow Sneak | Bullet Seed | Synthesis

Pumpkaboo-S is the second key to the hazard core. With Synthesis and that great typing, it is bar none the best spinblocker I've tested. While Gastly presents a far greater offensive presence, which is brutal under Webs, it can't reliably switch into the two most common spinners (Staryu and Drilbur). Pumpkaboo, on the other hand, beats both of these handily. I went with a specially defensive spread to more easily tank Staryu's Ice Beams, and to help against things like Abra. This also acts as a fantastic pivot alongside Mienfoo, and can work wonders against things like Sash Abra that can otherwise trouble the team. If I had to pick a team MVP, it would be this guy.

Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant | EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe | Jolly Nature
Sucker Punch | Knock Off | Iron Head | Stealth Rock

Pawniard completes the hazard trio, dropping rocks and discouraging Defog. In addition to being decently bulky with Eviolite and a solid defensive typing, Pawniard possesses excellent offensive capabilities despite the lack of Swords Dance or Life Orb, and its Sucker Punch is often the best defense against things like Snivy. I went with the standard spread to maximize Speed and bulk. Not too much else to say - this is pretty much a must-have for any Webs team IMO.

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Mienfoo @ Eviolite

Ability: Regenerator | EVs: 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe | Jolly Nature
High Jump Kick | Knock Off | U-turn | Taunt

Bulky Mienfoo went on as a general defensive pivot and specifically as a switch-in to opposing Pawniards, who otherwise could threaten the hell out of this team with their Defiant boosts. Maximum Speed was for the fastest Taunt possible, which prevents set-up and helps block Defog. The only non-standard thing here is HJK. I needed a lot of defensive investment to reliably switch into things like Pawniard, but I found myself disappointed by the damage output of Drain Punch. Once I tried out HJK in its place, I never looked back. Even without Reckless or any Attack EVs, HJK hurts like hell, and I find Regenerator gives me all the healing I need.

Cranidos @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force | EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 212 Spe | Adamant Nature
Rock Slide | Superpower | Zen Headbutt | Crunch

I tried out a lot of different options in this slot, but the real magic happened when I settled on Cranidos. This thing has absolutely outrageous attacking power (its base Attack is higher than Honchkrow's, ffs), and surprisingly good coverage. Perhaps even more importantly, it does not fear common birds (Fletchling in particular) that are immune to Webs. Sheer Force Rock Slide hurts like hell, at worst 2HKOing anything it hits neutrally and even denting the hell out of resists. Zen Headbutt is great for hitting bulky Fighting types, even OHKOing standard Timburr. Superpower is the best move against many common walls, OHKOing things like defensive Porygon and standard Ferroseed. Crunch is a nice 100% accurate move with good coverage and solid base power, hitting harder than EQ after a Sheer Force boost, and is nice for nailing Pumpkaboo. Seriously, this thing is a monster, and if Webs are down, it sweeps like nothing else.
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Abra @ Focus Sash

Ability: Magic Guard | EVs: 240 SpA / 200 Spe | Timid Nature
Psychic | Energy Ball | Hidden Power [Fighting] | Taunt/Dazzling Gleam

To complete my offensive duo, I wanted another option with excellent Speed and coverage, and so Abra was an easy choice. While I originally had Life Orb Abra in this slot, and I sometimes miss its wallbreaking potential, I found Sash was more useful overall for its ability to reliably take on things like Fletchling, Snivy and Pawniard without having to resort to 50/50s, while also helping against faster Scarfers . Psychic and HP Fighting are must-haves, with HP Fighting being necessary for Pawniard in particular. Energy Ball is my preferred coverage move, since it hits the two most common spinners harder than anything else Abra has. For the last slot, I originally had Protect to block Fake Out, but I found it wasn't really necessary. Instead I waffle between DGleam and Taunt. Dazzling Gleam is nice for catching Vullaby on the switch, while Taunt is for mirror matches - with Taunt you can lead against an opposing Surskit and beat it one on one, keeping Webs off the field, and still block Defog in a pinch if you're feeling cheeky.

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Conclusion & Replays
I've got to say, I really enjoyed playing around with Little Cup, and it's a tier I plan to return to more often. While this isn't the only team I made for LC Open, it is by far the most successful. I used it at least once in every round of LC Open, and as I mentioned above, I won all five games I used it in. In addition, I gave the team to several friends who don't main the tier, and they all had tremendous success with it (even against veteran LC players):

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-lc-83144 - R1 versus Quite Quiet
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-265120690 - R2 versus Lunar.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-lc-88160 / http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-lc-88165 - R3 versus TheKFC (used it in both games because YOLO)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-lc-89688 - R4 versus ZoroDark
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-lc-86653 - Christo the Gr8 versus tazz.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-lc-85463 - Christo the Gr8 versus Rowan.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-lc-85465 - Christo the Gr8 versus Rowan again.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-lc-90460 - Meru versus Atlantic.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-lc-87789 - r0ady versus Celestavian.

Anyhow, despite its successes, I'm certainly not going to pretend this team is perfect. Despite building to minimize their impact, well-played 'mons like Snivy, Fletchling and Archen can be very problematic, and opposing Webs teams are a serious pain if you aren't running Taunt on Abra. I'd love to get some feedback on the team.

importable

Surskit @ Focus Sash
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 20 Def / 196 SpA / 20 SpD / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Protect

Pumpkaboo-Super @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 5
EVs: 204 HP / 36 Def / 236 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
- Bullet Seed
- Synthesis

Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock

Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Taunt

Cranidos @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Zen Headbutt
- Crunch

Abra @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Taunt

friends friends 1 2 3 all my friends are here with me

I don't want to do shout outs because eh, but I do want to thank the UU folks who specifically helped test and use this team. If I forgot anybody important, just pretend I included you: teal6 King UU Christo The Gr8 R0ady Meru

 

[infamy]

hey, this is a pretty good team, but you're kind of weak to foo and foongus so id suggest running acrobatics > taunt on foo since it lets you beat opposing foo 1v1 and you do a lot more damage to foongus, 2hkoing it after a bit of residual damage which isnt really hard to get since they dont carry synthesis and regen only gives it 1/3 of its hp back. taunt isn't that useful against defoggers anyway since most of the time the opposing defoggers will be archen which you speedtie with and vullaby and pawn checks both of those. just some thoughts. pretty good team overall id probably give it a 2 or 3 out of 12

 

[Fiend]

This is one of those teams that I was really glad I didn't have to play against during my run in LC Open; it's amazingly good at tearing apart both offense and balance since most teams either rely on Spin or forgo hazard clearing. Really, I only have minor suggestion for it.

The first of these is changing Pawniard to an Adamant nature as well as remove 80 EVs from Speed and put them into Attack (14 speed is barely enough on this team). This gives better rolls in general (chances to OHKO Offensive Archen after SR for example), and the loss of speed is very minor. Jolly only gains the ability to speed tie with 17 Scarfs while also outspeeding fast Vullaby. However the most common of these are Chinchou and Mienfoo, whom you click Sucker Punch on to kill / switch to Pumpkaboo to create chip damage on or switch Pawn out of always.

Pawniard

Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 116 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

Secondly, Fire Blast over Shadow Sneak on Pumpkaboo lures Snivy in who is otherwise somewhat problematic. Of course, this makes Pumpkaboo slower resulting in Berry Juice Magnemite being more irksome, but still manageable. You can deal with Snivy without this edit, but not being required to fodder something is usually preferred. Sneak is largely chip damage most games unless you have misplayed anyway. This makes 19 attack Pawniard much safer to run over all too, and the added power to Pawn's Sucker Punch tends to make up for the lack Shadow Sneak too.

Pumpkaboo

Pumpkaboo-Super @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 5
EVs: 204 HP / 36 Def / 4 SpA / 236 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Fire Blast
- Synthesis
- Bullet Seed
- Will-O-Wisp

Regardless, you've made a scary effective team; congrats and stick around in LC!

 

[Hogg]

hey, this is a pretty good team, but you're kind of weak to foo and foongus so id suggest running acrobatics > taunt on foo since it lets you beat opposing foo 1v1 and you do a lot more damage to foongus, 2hkoing it after a bit of residual damage which isnt really hard to get since they dont carry synthesis and regen only gives it 1/3 of its hp back. taunt isn't that useful against defoggers anyway since most of the time the opposing defoggers will be archen which you speedtie with and vullaby and pawn checks both of those. just some thoughts. pretty good team overall id probably give it a 2 or 3 out of 12

Thanks for the advice! In actual practice I haven't noticed the weakness to Mienfoo/Foongus - HJK is almost a clean 2HKO on opposing bulky Mienfoos (guaranteed from full if rocks are down, 93.8% chance if not), and with Taunt or an easy pivot into Pumpkaboo to block Spore, Foongus hasn't been all that problematic either. It helps that both of my main sweepers OHKO both. Taunt is nice for preventing opposing hazards since I lack a spinner of my own, and also helps prevent setup (especially DD, but it's nice against stuff like Bulk Up 'mons I can't beat one on one too). That said, I do think Acrobatics on Foo is a cool option, so I'll keep it in mind if I find I'm having trouble with Foo/Foo cores in particular or opposing fighting types in general.

This is one of those teams that I was really glad I didn't have to play against during my run in LC Open; it's amazingly good at tearing apart both offense and balance since most teams either rely on Spin or forgo hazard clearing. Really, I only have minor suggestion for it.

The first of these is changing Pawniard to an Adamant nature as well as remove 80 EVs from Speed and put them into Attack (14 speed is barely enough on this team)...

Secondly, Fire Blast over Shadow Sneak on Pumpkaboo lures Snivy in who is otherwise somewhat problematic....

Regardless, you've made a scary effective team; congrats and stick around in LC!

Thanks for the comments! Both of these actually sound like they could work out well on the team. I'll test them out and see how they do. Shadow Sneak has definitely done a lot of good work for me, but Snivy is always scary for this team, and Fire Blast would also be great for things like Spikes Ferroseed. I'm a little more skeptical about dropping Pawniard's Speed, because I don't like building Webs teams that 100% need Webs to be effective, but from looking at calcs the power boost is pretty significant. I'll test it out and see if the Speed drop is noticable in general.

 

[tcr]

What up dude, Fiend pretty much said most of what I would recommend, however there was one thing.

Your team still kinda gets messed up by Fletchling / other birds, as you can't just solely rely on Pawniard to tank hits (for example every time it comes in it either smashes Pawniard, which it can even run Overheat to mess you up, or it just straight up OHKOes Pumpkaboo / Mienfoo / Sashless Abra). One thing I think you could change for that is to run Pursuit Cranidos. Pursuit Cranidos is a cool set that lets you switch into Fletchling semi-reliably, face tank it, and deal around half with Pursuit, which with Rocks severely limits its switchin opportunities. Basically, Cranidos has the offensive power where it doesn't really need Life Orb, since base damage alone it already has the most in LC. Trying out Berry Juice might make things like Archen and Fletchling (Archen still threatening with Earthquake so i would scout it out first) more manageable.

Cranidos Berry Juice
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Zen Headbutt
- Pursuit
- Superpower / Earthquake

hope this helped you out man, I can personally attest to the effectiveness of this set : )