"Generic" LC

For that one Little Cup LNT, the theme was to compose a Little Cup team with no Gligar (though I constructed my team taking Gligar into consideration regardless). Using my experience from Generation II, I devised a team by randomly taking what seemed to be good sweepers, and as that's what LC is all about, it makes for quite of a good team...
The title may be only "Generic," but this team is all brimming with possible power.
This team only lost to matty twice, and also one other random dude because I wasn't paying attention >_> (guy had an Agility/Aqua Jet Carvanha lead)
Another nifty thing is that this team is all a blue/turquoise hue, just something I noticed.

Poké Ball set-Slam dunk, TUSKENRAIDER: Monobike of the Dunes!
♀

Oran Berry
Pickup
196 HP/196 Attack/116 Def
Impish (+Def, -Special Attack)
Counter
Ice Shard
Earthquake
Stealth Rock

Hrm, a nice sturdy open with SR. Not only that, STAB Earthquake is a nice thing to have in an environment such as this. Oh, and the priority move is a nice thing to have also. Also, Counter essentially means that if I take a physical attack, the opponent is instantly knocked out. That isn't exactly a difficult perspective when it comes down to Phanpy.
Aww, lookie that, it wants to give you a blue elephant-issued hug!

Poké Ball set-Dart, KUNGFUFROG: Skewer Spitter!♀


Life Orb
Dry Skin
52 HP/196 Speed/188 Special Attack/36 Special Def
Modest nature (+Special Attack, -Attack)
Nasty Plot
Vacuum Wave
Shadow Ball
Sludge Bomb

Abra was such a deadly force before, and I used it as such. However, there was something...lacking. There wasn't enough diversity, and Abra never really made me proud (mainly because it was too risky to launch a Signal Beam in case of Houndour switch-in...which never really did happen). Black Buddha said that Croagunk was probably for the best, so on March 23, 2010, Croagunk slotted over the position held since August 20, 2009 by the Specs holder.
By using Croagunk, I now have a direct way to Stat-up, and in this sort of environment with Croagunk's Stats, that is not hard to do at all. Sludge Bomb is the alternative to Abra's Psychic, but if I'm feeling peckish, Vacuum Wave is another powerful priority for my team. Shadow Ball rounds of coverage for the likes of Bronzor and Gastly, not to mention a clean 2HKO (unboosted, that is) on other Croagunk.

Poké Ball set-Radiate, SPIRITSTAR: Mechanical Fish!
☼

Life Orb
Natural Cure
236 Speed/200 Special Attack
Timid (+Speed, -Attack)
Hidden Grass Power
Thunderbolt
Surf
Ice Beam

Staryu quickly proves itself as the most destructive sweeper on the team and is my main "go-to" Pokémon. Coupled with an extremely high Speed and equipped with a Life Orb, Staryu just blows just about anything away with its devestating moves. Choice Specs is obviously overkill here. Ironically, Croagunk and Staryu would be the "main defensive core" of the team.

Poké Ball set-Demolish, SKULLWRECKER: Invincible Spear!
♂

Choice Scarf
Mold Breaker
236 Attack/36 Def/212 Speed
Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)
Head Smash
Earthquake
Superpower
Zen Headbutt

This would most likely be the physical counterpart to Staryu. Taking the different Stats into account, we have another destruction machine that outspeeds everything instantly. Usually, he finds himself cleaning up after the mess Staryu makes. It also happens that Cranidos resists Quick Attack and ExtremeSpeed while Croagunk resists Mach Punch, Vacuum Wave, and Sucker Punch. Swift Electric moves do raise an issue or two, but I have for backup…

Poké Ball set-Upheave, WHACKAMOLE: Pocky Stick of Doom!
♂

Focus Sash
Arena Trap
36 HP/236 Attack/236 Speed
Hasty (+Speed, -Def)
Earthquake
Sucker Punch
Hidden Ice Power
Reversal → Pursuit

Yet another aggressive Ground type here, being able to outspeed and dominate most foes. The Sucker Punch is a very useful priority, being able to nail those Ghosts (Substitute + Calm Mind is tricky, however). The Focus Sash protects me from any flash priority or any other move, and also opens up a nice little goodie in the form of Reversal, I believe coming at 150 power. It's Diglett's best attack on Levitate Bronzor, but I'm beginning to think that another Dark/Ghost attack would open up more utility. Hidden Power is there to pick off any cocky hefty Ground types.

Poké Ball set-Soar, METEORSOUL: Avain Prosperity!
♀

Flame Orb
Guts
36 HP/236 Attack/236 Speed
Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)
Protect
Pluck
Facade
Quick Attack

Yeah…ok then…I assume you know the drill here…
Maximum speed is being run here as I do not need more overkill Guts provides, even though I have a priority move being run here. Sometimes Facade won't cut it, so I have Pluck here as secondary STAB. Brave Bird overkill (a rather common word in Little Cup territory) is unnecessary, especially with the fact Pluck may be able to feed Taillow with nice Oran Berries, perhaps the occasional Liechi or Salac (still gets walled by Steels, however). Although I find myself activating Flame Orb on the switch, I really want to guarantee Taillow's life of destruction. It screws Meowth's Fake Out to boot, too.

Counters
Well, boosted moves are problematic, and so are fast priority moves. Speaking of such moves, I never know whether a Gastly that comes in on my Taillow is going to use Thunderbolt or Substitute, which could be problematic. I should probably Protect though, as not many Gastly run both Substitute and Thunderbolt. Agility users (or priority users) can ooze some hurt onto the team if they can bypass my own barrage of priorities.

I am on Shoddy Battle: Smogon Server every day, most of the time.
www.youtube.com/PhilosophicalPsycho

Philosophy: "Do not think of knocking out another person's brains because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago." -Horace Mann, but just from reading the quote I can tell he's sexist

Squeeeeee its a Phanpy! I now feel obliged to rate your team.

OK, right off the bat I can see something along the lines of say Agility Chinchou KOing your whole team. The lack of strong priority is the reason for this, Diglett is simply not strong enough. SR breaks your Diglett's sash, stopping it from being the Chinchou sweep stopper that everyone loves. I'll come back to this problem later, but lets just keep in mind bulky Agility users.

Now piece by piece:

Phanpy: I love Phanpy as much as anyone else, but the fact is the current leads are extremely anti-Phanpy in a sense: Kabuto, Omanyte, Snover and Chimchar all pack a way of OHKOing you, and then setting up SR next turn. Phanpy is simply not a great lead in this current metagame. I would suggest replacing it with the standard Kabuto lead set:

Kabuto @ Focus Sash
Jolly
Battle Armor / Swift Swim (If opposing RD teams give you trouble I guess)
236 Spe / 196 Atk
-Stealth Rock
-Aqua Jet
-Rock Slide
-Earth Power / Waterfall - Waterfall kills Phanpy, Earthpower kills Croagunk on the switch

Not only does this thing get SR up nearly all the time, it also does a great job at beating current leads, barring say Focus Sash CHimchar who can KO you with Fake Out + HP Grass.

Staryu looks fine, although you may want some Psychic attack to dispose of Croagunk.

Now Abra- The only sets Abra should consider using IMO are the Encore / Sub sets and possibly Choice Scarf. Choice Specs just lacks the speed and is incredibly Stunky / Carvanha bait to be effective. Now, I think that Croagunk would be a fine replacement over Abra in this case to give you your much needed priority, as well as givng you a Water immune- you have 3 water weak mons and just one resist. A simple set such as the following shouls suffice:

Croagunk @ Life Orb
Naughty / Rash
Dry Skin
188 Atk / 188 SpA / 116 Spe
-Fake Out
-Vacuum Wave
-Sucker Punch
-Ice Punch / Dark Pulse - Ice Punch hits Gligar on the switch, while doing great damage to Paras, whereas Dark Pulse helps beat pesky Will O Wisp ghosts such as Duskull.

Cranidos is a great scarfer, props on using him, but the moveset could be a bit better- Replace Superpower with Stone Edge. The drops are too detrimental for Cranidos, and a consistent STAB move with 0 recoil is good to have to finish off weak targets.

Diglett has one HUGE flaw- NO 20 SPEED. Seriously though, if you run Diglett / Elekid / Voltorb, you MUST have 20 speed or above. It is what makes them immense, so change the nature to Naive and youll be fine. Reversal is also a bit gimmicky, something with priority will finish you off before its too effective. It also does not reach the max power of 200 as you may have been hoping, only 150 or so, making a STAB EQ have the same consistent power.

On Taillow I'd advise changing Pluck to Brave Bird- Taillow's sweep is short lived anyways, so you might as well do as much damage as you possibly can.

That's all I have to say for now, good luck laddering and with a few changes this could be a very strong team indeed.

My games usually end with my last Cranidos. Everyone else has 6-0 potential, but Phanpy usually goes out.

Hrm, that's interesting, because the only lead I really ever seem to see is Meowth or a Poison type. Phanpy has never ever disappointed me. And she has elephanty brownie points.

Yes...yes, that's how matty creamed me-Agility Chinchou. Abra is most definitely getting ruled out for Croagunk, though I may need to think those moves over. I'm thinking along the lines of Nasty Plot. Lol, and more priority.
Let's see...I drop a Ghost weakness, drop a Dark weakness, gain a Dark resist (but no one else is weak), drop a Bug weakness, gain a Bug resist (but I already have a Bug resist and no weak), gain a Ground weakness (Cranidos is weak to Ground and so is Kabuto, but Taillow resists). I also have a Flying weakness, but Cranidos resists and Croagunk is much MUCH more better defensively. Rock resistance is appealing.
Probably the biggest type change is loss of Psychic resist for Psychic weakness, but the addition of Pursuit is appealing.

Calculating Dry Skin, I have a Fire weakness now, but I have two healthy resists. It also helps Staryu sponge Water that corrodes half the team.
Oh, and with Croagunk, everyone on the team is blue/turquoise.

Reversal was just a move I thought would be nifty to have. Aside from being Hasty, anything revolving Reversal stays unless it is increasing Diglett's HP or changing for Rock Slide. I think it used to be Shadow Claw. I think I used Lonely because Focus Sash migitates for any outspeeder.

And absolutely no to that Taillow change; explanation is in the overview. Thank you very much, however.

That's a bit weird, as per stats Kabuto and Snover usually hold the top places, but I guess the metagame is shifting. Phanpy is an excellent lead, no doubt about that, so if the current metagame allows it go ahead and use it to your hearts extent.

I don't think you'll be getting the most out of Gunk with that set however =/. You have enough sweepers, and NP Gunk often falls to stuff like Gligar (No 1 used mon), so that sweep is going to be pretty rare against a decent opponent. I think you should use the full out priority set IMO, because a FO + Vwave helps you kill off many more threats, rather than just one Vacuum Wave.

For Cranidos I think you still should not run Superpower. I don't see any target youd hit with it that you wouldnt hit witH EQ or Stone Edge- It gets perfect coverage in Little Cup with just those moves thanks to Mold Breaker. Zen Headbutt is needed for Fighting types, but Superpower just seems redundant. Stone Edge would make for a better choice IMO, its the standard on Cranidos.

I'd also recommend you change DIglett to CHoice Scarf. Phanpy doesn't prevent SR setup, and once SR is up your Diglett is effectively itemless. If you go for a ScarfDiglett, not only can you revenge things like AgiliChinchou and AgilityRhyhorn and the like with impunity, but you can also trap KO threats such as Elekid, and even revenge Gligar with HP Ice. But I would then change Sucker Punch to Shadow Claw, and Rock Slide over Reversal.

Well...wouldn't a Shadow Ball (especially at double power) do some damage to Gligar? Well, I did one battle with this modified team so far, against Rain, and the maximum power Vacuum Wave was nice.

I guess I could run Hidden Ice Power, but I might not get the OHKO on other Croagunk and I'm hopeless versus Bronzor.

I get some use off of SuperPower; it comes in really handy at times. And why Stone Edge when you can Head Smash? (or are you suggesting to replace it?)

When I was first building the team, I had considered ScarfLett, but I was also was really scared of priority or failing to OHKO. I mean (when Diglett was still Lonely, anyways), there were times Diglett was sweeping, got struck (either by priority or lack of OHKO), then continued to maul (now with a 150 power Fighting move). Stealth Rock isn't too common in Little Cup, nor do I actually mind it too much. When the opposing lead opens with Stealth Rock, I usually get the pummel and pressure on quickly.

Seeing as two-thirds of the team has priority, and Cranidos is Scarfed, I'm not sure if I should do ScarfLett. My main tactic for dealing with Gligar is either Phanpy's Ice Shard or Staryu. Against AgiliGar, well...I DO have lots of priority and when it comes to it, I have Hidden Ice Power with Diglett.

Snover is a real pain in the butt for you. I'd stick in Bronzor instead of Phanpy for the reason that it takes Snover better, can use SR, but has more resistances which is something you lack. If you're new as well, it gives you more breathing space before you work out how to play around certain pokemon.

Also, get a proper fighting resist. Croagunk is not enough from preventing Mankey (particularly as it is faster than Crani) coming in late game and spamming Close Combat. Either get a Ghost or a x4 fighting resist, because you will need it.

sbc said:

Snover is a real pain in the butt for you. I'd stick in Bronzor instead of Phanpy for the reason that it takes Snover better, can use SR, but has more resistances which is something you lack. If you're new as well, it gives you more breathing space before you work out how to play around certain pokemon.

Also, get a proper fighting resist. Croagunk is not enough from preventing Mankey (particularly as it is faster than Crani) coming in late game and spamming Close Combat. Either get a Ghost or a x4 fighting resist, because you will need it.

Click to expand...

However, Phanpy is just that much more offensive than Bronzor...and when I use Bronzor I find myself with empty moves sometimes and wasting tempo.

A proper Fighting resist...um, well, with the mass amount of priority I am running, I'm not too scared of Scarf...except for very possibly Scarfed Ice Shards from Snover...

A x4 Fight resist? Is Zubat viable in LC? Nasty Plot? Interesting... Inner Focus also helps against any flash Fake Out (though Zubat probably won't live anyways).

Nasty Plot/Air Slash/Sludge Bomb/Heat Wave
Other moves include Shadow Ball, Giga Drain, Roost, Mean Look, Hidden Power, and Hypnosis.

Or perhaps Choice Band.
Brave Bird, Pluck, or Fly/Quick Attack/Faint Attack/Poison Fang
Other moves include Return, U-turn, Zen Headbutt, or Pursuit.

Venonat or Ledyba could be interesting support options.

Toxic Spikes or Stun Spore/Sleep Powder/Morning Sun/Bug Bite
Other moves include Signal Beam, Giga Drain, Screech, Sludge Bomb, Poison Fang, Flash, Psychic, or Zen Headbutt. Agility Passing is also an interesting option.


Reflect/Light Screen/Knock Off/Roost
Other moves include U-turn, Agility, Swords Dance, Baton Pass (Silver Wind if you're feeling lucky), Bug Bite, Encore, Screech, Safeguard, Mach Punch, Focus Punch, and Comet Punch (just kidding).

Natu can also run such sets, but is better off offensively. One interesting thing is that it gets Wish and Baton Pass (albeit only Ominous Wind or Silver Wind, otherwise, just use U-turn), also Lucky Chant. Thunder Wave works too.

Trick/Psychic/Heat Wave/Signal Beam
Other moves include Sucker Punch, Quick Attack, Trick Room, Pluck, Giga Drain, Hidden Power, and Shadow Ball.

Or, you know, for true walling potential, I could bust out a Weedle. Dunno why I would want to do that, but it takes Fighting moves like a pro with its huge wet cardboard wall capability.. Doesn't get Snore, though, which mildly sucks.

Bug Bite/Poison Sting/String Shot

Skorupi can do anything, really.

Funny, I expected more x4 Resist. Combee is interesting however.
When it comes to Ghosts, of course, Duskull is defensive and Shuppet or Gastly are offensive. Drifblim can go with either. Misdreavus is no longer with us.

Finally, all of the Pokémon I have just listed are fine options to set up Weather moves, or can work decently in them, except Wynaut of course, but it only has a x2 Resist anyways. Of course, that HP is impressive.

But I'm sticking with Croagunk unless a stronger argument can be made.

It should be noted that most of the Pokémon I have just listed are pretty fail against Snover.

Choice Scarf Machop is a huge problem for you. Croagunk's Vacuum Wave doesn't do enough when unboosted and if you try and revenge it with Cranidos they can see the ZH from a mile away and there's nothing to stop it switching out into a Dark-type (Houndour getting a NP is bad) or Wynaut (worse).

Something like Gastly might be advisable.

Ice-eyes said:

Choice Scarf Machop is a huge problem for you. Croagunk's Vacuum Wave doesn't do enough when unboosted and if you try and revenge it with Cranidos they can see the ZH from a mile away and there's nothing to stop it switching out into a Dark-type (Houndour getting a NP is bad) or Wynaut (worse).

Something like Gastly might be advisable.

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I am always highly wary when using easily punishable moves. And chances are ScarfChop won't have Bull Pawnch or anything like that. But an Earthquake from Cranidos won't be OHKO'ing Machop soon.

However, Houndour can still come in on any Shadow Ball, Psychic, or Sludge Bomb Gastly aims at Machop (who can still attack with Payback). Granted, Gastly can set up a Substitute, but without a Scarf on the Ghost, Machop will use Payback (Croagunk has a handy resistance to Fighting / Dark, by the way). Of course, the perk is that Wynaut still can't tackle Gastly, but the final verdict for me is that Cranidos can take Machop well, Houndour better, and against Wynaut fine (as of now, I have never seen ScarfChop, PlotDour, or Wynaut). Finally, it should be noted that Cranidos' Zen Headbutt will 5HKO max Physical def and HP Oran Berry Wynaut. Of course, four Flinches will be required to prevent Cranidos from being Countered. Earthquake would 3HKO. Head Smash has a very minimal chance of failing to OHKO.

P.S. Croagunk's neutral Vacuum Wave WILL NOT OHKO Houndour, assuming neutral Special Def nature and minimal HP. Houndour won't be able to support Life Orb much longer, however. Besides, with this fact, chances are I would go to Staryu or Cranidos anyways. My Croagunk also has a decent chance of OHKO Wynaut with an unboosted Shadow Ball. The key word, of course, is "chance."

It should be noted that Cranidos is my main Physical sweeper and Diglett and Taillow are the actual revengers, with Diglett being more of the middleman and Taillow conviently (or inconviently, depending how you look at it) developing into a sweeper as the battle rages on.

Choice Scarf Machop is by far the most common variant. With its main counter now banned, and Ghosts (especially double-Ghost) less prevalent, expect to see a lot more of it.

PlotDour is less common, but it does exist.

Wynaut is seen a lot, especially on teams that like to trap Scarfers and Croagunk (Chop!).

Ice-eyes said:

Choice Scarf Machop is by far the most common variant. With its main counter now banned, and Ghosts (especially double-Ghost) less prevalent, expect to see a lot more of it.

PlotDour is less common, but it does exist.

Wynaut is seen a lot, especially on teams that like to trap Scarfers and Croagunk (Chop!).

Click to expand...

None of those guys are scary, especially with the fact it doesn't take much effort for Croagunk to wipe em out XP
Besides, Croagunk's Shadow Ball will completely massacre Wynaut. Granted, it is not a 2HKO, but:

If Wynaut Encores, it's as good as gone (though Houndour could come in and boost, but that's not too concerning).
If Wynaut Counters, Tickles, or Safeguards, that's a huge fail.
Wynaut would only Mirror Coat if it was onto Croagunk as a special attacker, she would've Nasty Plotted anyways.