Anorith (Analysis)

• Wrote Choice, Swords Dance, Rock Polish, and Utility set descriptions
• Wrote Team Options
• Wrote Other Options, EVs, Opinion, and Counters sections

(Flora)

(Snorlaxe)

• Changed set order to Choice, Rock Polish, Swords Dance, Utility
• Added comments reflecting potential Anorith lead
• Grammar check 1, thanks to CardsOfTheHeart
• Exchanged Utility set for Stealth Rock Lead
• Changed to reflect new analysis format
• Removed Misdreavus as it is now Uber
• Grammar check 2, thanks to Aeron Ee1
• GP Grammar-Prose check 1, thanks to Flora
• GP Grammar-Prose check 2, thanks to Snorlaxe

This set focuses on the latter move, which boosts Anorith's decent Speed stat, allowing it to outspeed and OHKO many threats that would otherwise be able to revenge-kill, such as Timid Mismagius and Abra.

Click to expand...

bugmaniacbob said:

[SET]
name: Choice
move1: Rock Slide
move2: X-Scissor
move3: Brick Break
move4: Body Slam / Double-Edge
item: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Anorith can run a Choice set to reasonable effectiveness, boasting excellent Speed and Attack backed up by an excellent STAB combination. With a Jolly nature and a Choice Band Anorith reaches 28 Attack and 18 Speed, while with Adamant and a Choice Scarf it gets 20 Attack and 25 Speed. With this sort of power plus a Choice Band behind it, Anorith becomes a force to be reckoned with in Little Cup, with very little able to switch into it risk-free. The Choice Scarfer is usually played more as a lategame sweeper plus makeshift revenge-killer, taking down broken or weakened teams. While blessed with a good offensive typing and higher Speed than its evolution, its typing and stats leave much to be desired defensively. In short, Choice Anorith is more than capable of wrecking an unprepared team when used correctly, and is underestimated at one's peril.</p>

<p>X-Scissor is its initial STAB attack of choice and most reliable form of lategame offense. While an inviting switch for popular Pokemon such as Croagunk and Gligar, with a Choice Band equipped it will take a chunk off nearly anything it hits. Rock Slide is used as a secondary STAB move, as sadly Anorith does not get Stone Edge, though especially on the Choice Scarf set the flinch chance makes this loss not quite so unbearable. Between the two moves, nearly every Pokemon in Little Cup is hit for at least neutral damage. The remaining two slots are used for coverage purposes; Brick Break is by far the most useful for destroying Shieldon and Aron, both of whom resist its STAB moves. The only other type that resists both Rock and Bug is the Fighting-type, of whom Croagunk, Machop and Mankey are the most commonly seen. An interesting tactic occasionally used is employed by using Anorith with Aerial Ace as a lure to discover whether your opponent has any Fighting-types, then defeating them on the switch, as they will usually be the first to switch in, thereby allowing a Pokemon such as Teddiursa to sweep freely, given that Teddiursa's greatest weakness is to priority attacks, and with Croagunk's Vacuum Wave and Machop's Bullet Punch out of the way, it often finds its job a lot easier. This tactic is unreliable however, and Aerial Ace has few uses aside from that. Double-Edge has greater neutral coverage and has less risk attached to it, but has an unfortunate recoil side-effect, and Body Slam has a useful Paralysis chance that can help your team out should it activate at the right time. Crush Claw is also worth a look for the 50% chance of a Defense drop, though the Choice item makes it difficult to capitalize on the momentary weakness. In general, Adamant should be used with Choice Scarf to promote attacking power and Jolly should be used with Choice Band to salvage lost Speed.</p>

<p>First and foremost, Stealth Rock is very useful, not only to chip off HP from bulkier opponents such as Gligar, but also to break any Focus Sashes on foes like Gastly and Misdreavus who will usually try to revenge-kill it. Rapid Spin support is also viable, as Anorith has a maximum of five switch-ins with Stealth Rock on the field, and as this is a Choice set Anorith is very likely to be doing a large amount of switching. In general, by far the greatest threats to Choice Anorith are the Fighting-types previously mentioned, and it is all too easy to allow something like Croagunk to set up on your Choice-locked X-Scissor. In this situation Misdreavus or Gligar, provided Croagunk lacks the respective moves to deal with them, is your best bet, though there is no assurance that they will work every time. Other than the aforementioned, the two biggest threats to Choice Anorith are resistances, particularly for the Scarf variant, jumping in after Anorith scores a kill, and revenge-killers, particularly for the Band variant, doing the same thing. As Anorith lacks priority these are ultimately the easiest way to be rid of it for good, and Diglett is more than capable of putting it away while it is locked on Rock Slide. Machop and Croagunk have Bullet Punch and Vacuum Wave respectively and will not hesitate to attack. There are very few support options that deter revenge-killing, though paralysis support can often help. Choice Anorith is very good at removing slower Pokemon that are weak to one of its moves, such as Slowpoke, Houndour and Snover, and the Scarf variant especially is very good at revenge-killing weakened threats. These properties and its good type coverage make it a good partner to Pokemon such as Abra and Bellsprout, among others, who may be hindered by Pokemon that Anorith is more than capable of removing.</p>

[SET]
name: Rock Polish
move1: Rock Polish
move1: Rock Slide
move2: X-Scissor
move3: Brick Break
item: Life Orb / Oran Berry
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 Atk / 116 Def / 156 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Anorith has two desirable stat-boosting moves for procuring a sweep, Swords Dance and Rock Polish. This set focuses on the latter move, which boosts Anorith's decent Speed stat, allowing it to outspeed and OHKO many threats that would otherwise be able to revenge-kill, such as Timid Misdreavus and Abra. After one boost Anorith hits 32 Speed, sufficient to outrun all unboosted Pokemon in Little Cup and also quite a few that do have boosts, most important among them Jolly Scarf Diglett. While slightly better protected against most revenge-killings from faster sweepers due to its boosted Speed stat and extra defensive EVs, it may often find that it lacks the ability to power through more bulky walls such as Gyro Ball Bronzor and Aqua Tail Gligar. Not only that, but it is still as weak to priority attacks as ever, and has no really feasible way of beating Machop and other Fighting-types. Despite these shortcomings Rock Polish Anorith is certainly very viable as a set, and will make you pay should you lack priority.</p>

<p>In many ways the Rock Polish set is very similar to the Swords Dance set on paper, with the identical combination of moves and items, and the only real differences being the set-up move of choice, Jolly is absent as it is quite unnecessary with the Speeds capable of being reached with even an Adamant nature, and the EVs taking one point from Speed in exchange for one in Defense. However, when one uses the two sets in battle, they are played far more differently than one would expect at first glance. The Swords Dancer needs [as already described implies that the Swords Dance was the first of the two sets, but you forgot to change this after you switched them] only to power its way through a slowed team, with little to stop it from OHKOing anything it walks into. Thus, the support required hinges deeply in building momentum against the opponent's team through such things as entry hazards and paralysis support, allowing Anorith to channel its power as smoothly as possible for as long as possible. With the Rock Polish sweeper, however, it is critical that your opponent's walls are as weak as possible in order to allow Anorith to bypass them, and thus Anorith should not be revealed, unless it is absolutely necessary, before you have done as much damage as is possible. Walls such as Bronzor, Gligar and Hippopotas, as well as bulky Fighting-types such as Machop, can all take a hit and OHKO back, and there are many others that Anorith fails to OHKO for lack of power that have OHKO potential.</p>

<p>The bulkier Fighting-types present the biggest problem for this set, for unlike the Swords Dancer it hasn't a hope of simply muscling its way past them. To deal with them, the best method is almost always to play to resistances, especially with stronger ones like Machop, and then weaken or revenge-kill. Ghost-types such as Gastly and Misdreavus can come into Choice-locked ones and set up, and Gligar can take a Fighting attack or two, attack with STAB Earthquake or Aerial Ace and heal off the damage with Roost. For the walls mentioned above, most things with strong, super effective attacks and decent bulk can work, so, for example, Krabby can work thanks to its decent defensive stats, indifference to most of Bronzong's common moves and STAB Crabhammer to maul all three with. Bronzor itself can be dealt with by strong Fire attacks from things like Houndour and Ponyta, while Gligar and Hippopotas are crushed by most special Water and Ice attacks. In the case of Tentacool, whom none of the aforementioned Pokemon can deal with, something with a strong Electric, Ground or Psychic attack, such as Staryu or Munchlax, are reasonably easy methods of dealing with it.</p>

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move1: Swords Dance
move1: Rock Slide
move2: X-Scissor
move3: Brick Break
item: Life Orb / Oran Berry
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>As previously mentioned, Anorith has access to two important stat-boosting moves, both of which can easily be employed in order to attempt a sweep. While Swords Dance Anorith does not have most of the support factor exhibited by the Choice sets, and therefore loses much of its flexibility, it makes up for it with raw power, achieving 52 Attack after a Swords Dance with an Adamant nature, factoring in Life Orb, which combined with its powerful STAB moves and decent Speed makes for a very effective lategame sweeper. Even with a Jolly nature, however, this Anorith suffers greatly from revenge-killing, more so than the Scarf and Rock Polish variants, and it is not always bulky enough to survive some neutral hits, especially after taking Life Orb recoil, and weakness to Bullet Punch and Aqua Jet does not help it. In spite of this, Anorith can be incredibly good at storming through weakened teams, with their more powerful priority-wielders removed. Although perhaps it is slightly overlooked in general in favor of Gligar as a Swords Dancer, who has greater bulk and a better movepool, Anorith is sufficiently different and powerful to be a real force lategame.</p>

<p>Swords Dance is the core move of this set, boosting Anorith's Attack stat to sky-high levels, giving Anorith the power to OHKO 0/0 Croagunk with Adamant, Life Orb Rock Slide 100% of the time, and even to occasionally take out 196/118 Machop with Brick Break, assuming one or more turns of Flame Orb recoil or previous damage. Rock Slide and X-Scissor are necessary STAB moves that complement each other quite nicely, and unlike the Choice sets one cannot simply switch one's Cyndaquil into X-Scissor, for fear of Rock Slide. Only one slot is left for coverage; Brick Break is generally the superior choice, since despite losing coverage against Fighting-types it easily disposes of Shieldon and Aron and can also hit less bulky Fighting-types for decent damage, as demonstrated, though Croagunk resists it, and without it Aron is completely exposed against most Steel-types. The choice of item is also an important one, since Life Orb gives the extra power needed for certain important KOs and is more useful if you are sure you can take down priority-wielding opposition, while Oran Berry is more defensively-inclined an item, providing a safeguard against weaker attacks and hopefully either allowing you to get an extra Swords Dance in or to live past an attempted revenge-kill. Likewise, with the natures Adamant gives you much-needed extra power and is the recommended choice, while Jolly provides insurance against other Pokemon by ensuring you will beat others at 17 Speed and will tie with those at 18 Speed, thus preventing Timid Gastly from having an easy revenge against you. The EVs are, again, fairly straightforward sweeping EVs, granting you the most possible Attack and Speed, while the rest is given up to an extra point in Defense.</p>

<p>Entry hazards are very valuable as a rule, especially for Anorith, since as previously mentioned, they break the opponent's Focus Sashes, though the added damage is not always as useful as it is for other Pokemon, since Anorith has STAB Rock Slide anyway, though the amassed damage can be very useful over time, especially considering that very few Little Cup Pokemon run Leftovers. Rapid Spin support can also be useful, since Anorith is weak to it and those 5 HP can make the difference between death and survival. Again, as mentioned, the biggest threats to this Anorith come from Fighting-types, particularly Machop, who can switch in, likely not taking any damage due to your setting up with Swords Dance or resistance to your STAB moves, and crush you with Scarf DynamicPunch or Guts Bullet Punch. Nearly anything with 19 or more speed, too, works as a revenge-killer, though admittedly few Little Cup Pokemon reach that number unboosted, though things like Timid Staryu and Jolly Buizel can easily outrun and OHKO. A strong Pursuit-user such as Scarf Houndour can remove Pokemon such as Choiced Abra and Gastly, and hopefully pick up a Flash Fire boost from things like Ponyta. Chinchou can take on Staryu and Buizel to a reasonable extent, resisting their STAB moves and KOing with STAB Thunderbolt, and Croagunk can come in on their STAB attacks thanks to Dry Skin and KO with Fake Out + Sucker Punch. In the case of Gligar, try to attack with strong Water or Ice attacks and it should fall.</p>

[SET]
name: Utility
move1: Stealth Rock
move2: Rapid Spin
move3: Rock Blast / Rock Slide
move4: Protect / Knock Off
item: Oran Berry / Lum Berry
nature: Adamant
evs: 76 Atk / 196 Def / 196 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With a much lower amount of entry hazards, and thus Rapid Spin users, in Little Cup than in almost any other metagame, Support Anorith is not quite as popular as it could be, which is a shame, as it is one of the five Pokemon in Little Cup that can learn the combination of Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin. While more offensively-inclined than many other support Pokemon, it has an excellent support movepool and the element of surprise with it, since many will expect an offensive Anorith as soon as they see one. Despite not seeing a lot of use in the fast-paced, hard-hitting metagame that is Little Cup, it is certainly a viable course for your Anorith to take, and can be a great method of support for your team. Anorith also makes a good lead with this combination, being able to set up Stealth Rock early-on with its good Speed stat, as well as taking very little damage from Fake Out.</p>

<p>Rapid Spin is the main attraction on this set, being able to remove entry hazards such as Spikes and Stealth Rock. The main reason for this is to allow your Pokemon with Focus Sashes to hopefully come in unscathed, and thus guaranteeing them at least a two-turn life, allowing them to grab an extra KO or set up. The damage caused is somewhat minimal initially in terms of significance owing to the large average damage output in Little Cup, though over time the build-up of damage can be very useful, especially considering that few Pokemon in Little Cup run Leftovers. For this reason you can set up your own Stealth Rock with Anorith, thereby allowing you to possibly free a moveslot on another Pokemon, such as Gible. Rock Blast is an interesting move that Anorith can use to great effect. Assuming it hits, it has a 50% chance to do more damage than Rock Slide, and a 25% chance to hit for less damage. However, the real magic in Rock Blast is not its damage output, but its utility; specifically, its ability to break Substitutes. With these EVs, A 0/0 Mismagius Substitute is broken after one blow, and then Anorith can proceed to strike it up to four more times. If you do not want to use it this way or simply distrust your luck, then Rock Slide is always available as an alternative. The last slot is an interesting one; Anorith can use Protect to scout for moves, as well as checking what move a Choice-locked Pokemon will use on the switch. Knock Off is also useful for support purposes, ridding Pokemon of their precious Oran Berry or Choice Scarf. Anorith itself uses an Oran Berry for extra survivability, in keeping with the defensive nature of the set. Lum Berry can also be used if you are paranoid about status, such as Gastly's Hypnosis. If you want to use Anorith as a lead, it is advised that you place X-Scissor in the last slot for coverage against Diglett and Bronzor. You can also switch Rock Slide with Brick Break if you want, though you may lose some important coverage, particularly against Gastly leads. Rapid Spin is still useful to get rid of other leads' Stealth Rock; for example, when faced with a Diglett lead, you can X-Scissor as it uses Stealth Rock, let it survive with its Focus Sash, then survive its Earthquake and KO with Rapid Spin, killing Diglett and removing its entry hazards all in one stroke. Focus Sash is the preferred item to survive stronger blows, though Lum Berry is also an option against Gastly leads. You can keep the EVs the same if you want, or else use the standard sweeper EVs to maximize Speed and offensive capabilities.</p>

<p>The Pokemon that benefit most from Anorith's support are those that are most affected by entry hazards; for example, Houndour is weak to Stealth Rock and so benefits greatly from its removal from the field by Rapid Spin, and Grass-types such as Bellsprout have checks in Fire-, Flying-, Bug-, and Ice-types, all of whom are hit hard by Stealth Rock and can hopefully be pushed into Sucker Punch KO range after a switch-in. It is mostly sweeper Pokemon who benefit from Anorith's particular brand of support, since Anorith can weaken opponents with Stealth Rock, Knock Off the Oran Berry from walls and make sure the sweeper comes in unscathed due to Rapid Spin. Also, Rapid Spin allows you to use frail sweepers with Focus Sash more readily, such as Gastly and Abra.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Anorith's Special Attack is not great, even by Little Cup standards, but it gets a couple of interesting attacks on that end. Earth Power is an interesting option that has some utility over Brick Break on the Rock Polish set especially. By diverting some EVs from Defense to Special Attack one can not only beat the original targets of Shieldon and Aron but also OHKO Croagunk, allowing you to bypass a supposed counter. Hidden Power Ice can also be used to deal some damage to Gligar. Screech can force switches and be used in tandem with Stealth Rock, but it is slightly useless since Anorith has Swords Dance anyway. Already mentioned in the set descriptions are Aerial Ace and Crush Claw - Aerial Ace hits the Fighting-types that wall his STAB moves, though its coverage and power beyond that is not good. Crush Claw has decent power and a nice chance of lowering the opponent's Defense as well as a lot of neutral coverage, but does not hit anything in particular for very great damage.</p>

[Team Options]

<p>Stealth Rock and possibly Rapid Spin support are a great help to any Anorith that isn't the support set, which does that itself. Anorith is weak to Stealth Rock and needs all the health it can get to get a stat boost without too much trouble, and especially on the Choice sets Anorith will be losing a lot of its health over time. Stealth Rock support is useful to break Abra and Gastly Focus Sashes, thus preventing them from being absolute revenge-killers. Paralysis support is also useful for the Swords Dance variant to ensure that it outspeeds certain potential revenge-killers.</p>

<p>Sweeper Anorith is generally most at risk from strong Fighting-types and bulkier revenge-killers, such as Machop and Krabby. While the Swords Dance set is harder to counter outright, it is also far more at risk from faster Pokemon such as Buizel. In general, Fighting-types can be taken care of by Gastly, Misdreavus or Gligar, although you must be careful, since they can carry Ice-type and Dark-type moves to take care of their supposed counters. In general the best way to be rid of them is with revenge-killers that can take a hit and strike back. For faster revenge-killers, Houndour can switch into Fire moves, as well as Abra and Gastly's STAB moves and, especially if they are Choiced, threaten a KO with Pursuit or Sucker Punch. Chinchou also makes a reasonably good partner, being able to switch into Ice, Electric and Water attacks from Buizel and Staryu and OHKO with STAB Thunderbolt. Croagunk is immune to Water-type moves and can kill with Fake Out + Sucker Punch. Krabby, too, makes an excellent partner to Anorith, able to switch into Aqua Jets and Bullet Punches with ease, and taking out Hippopotas, Gligar and Bronzor with STAB Crabhammer. Squirtle is a great compliment for similar reasons, being able to wall super effective attacks targeted at Anorith and also able to spin away Stealth Rock. Tentacool can occasionally be a problem for Anorith, but anything with a strong Electric or Ground move and an indifference to Surf and Sludge Bomb should do fine against it.</p>

<p>Diglett and Gligar are common partners with the Fighting-types that plague Anorith, which is bad news as both are quite capable of taking on Anorith; Diglett in particular can trap Anorith after it has made a kill and KO with Earthquake or Sucker Punch, depending on the Anorith variant, and Oran Berry Gligar can set up Rock Polish or Swords Dance on Choice Anorith and then KO with Aqua Tail, fearing only a Swords Dance Rock Slide or a rare Hidden Power Ice. Machop is also a popular partner with Bronzor, meaning Anorith is likely to run into several counters to any one of its sets on any one team. Thus, if you are you use Anorith to its fullest potential as a sweeper, it is imperative that you prepare thoroughly for as many threats to Anorith as possible. If you intend to use a Choice set, Anorith will usually be one of the supporting blocks under another's sweep, and it is important to note where Anorith can help out more than any other Pokemon. A fast, powerful X-Scissor allows you to take out Dark-, Psychic-, and Grass-types, and Rock Slide lets you get rid of Bug-, Fire-, Ice-, and Flying-types, allowing another Pokemon, such as Abra or Bellsprout, to have free rein.</p>

[EVs]

<p>On all offensive sets, 236 Attack is the way to go, maxing out your Attack and also your potential damage output. 236 Speed is also advisable, to maximize your Speed stat, although not so much is needed on the Rock Polish set to reach the desired Speed after a boost; 76 allows you to hit 30 speed after a boost, outrunning all unboosted Pokemon, while 156 allows you to hit 32, beating all Scarf Pokemon in Little Cup, as well as many boosted Pokemon. The remaining EVs can be drafted into Defense; 36 EVs gives you one extra point, 116 gives you two. On the Support set the majority of the EVs are loaded into the defensive stats to promote sturdiness while 76 EVs are granted to Attack to provide some classic offensive power.</p>

[Opinion]

<p>Anorith has good stats, an excellent set of double STABs and reliable offensive moves to back them up, but its prowess in the Little Cup competitive metagame is slightly shaky. Its offensive movepool is fairly shallow beyond the generic, its Rock typing gives it a fear of three of the most popular priority attacks in the game, and no priority of its own, and its Bug typing gives it a weakness to Stealth Rock. On top of all this, nearly all the Pokemon that can beat it sit comfortably at the top of Little Cup and show no signs of being displaced. However, despite all this, Anorith's merits cannot be denied. He is both fast and powerful and has boosting moves to stress both points. He is not bad defensively either; although his typing is terrible defensively it is undoubtedly a godsend offensively, and all in all, Anorith has the potential to be one of the best sweepers or supporters in Little Cup, given the right teammates.</p>

[Counters]

<p>It is very difficult to find a truly hard counter to the Swords Dance set, although bulky Choice Band Machop comes close. It is really much easier to revenge-kill than to straight-out wall. Abra and Gastly can both outspeed Adamant versions and KO with their STAB attacks, while Croagunk resists every move it has and has OHKO potential with one of its many priority moves. Machop and Mankey have similar honors to their name. Diglett, too, can trap and revenge-kill nearly any Anorith with Earthquake, Sucker Punch, or super effective Rock Slide. Faster Water-types with OHKO potential include Poliwag, Staryu, and Buizel, the latter of whom also has STAB Aqua Jet.</p>

<p>The Rock Polish set is far easier to counter per se - it often does not have the power to beat some of the walls that the Swords Dancer can simply hammer through, despite being faster and thus harder to revenge-kill. Bronzor can take an X-Scissor and survive with an Oran Berry, and Gyro Ball versions can easily KO after a Rock Polish. Gligar also easily survives, and can stall with Roost or crush with a super effective Aqua Tail. Hippopotas has Slack Off and STAB Earthquake, but the weather it brings with it can actually help Anorith by increasing its resilience against special attacks. Defensive Water-types with OHKO potential include Tentacool, Krabby, Squirtle, Omanyte, and Kabuto, although the latter two have to be wary of Brick Break if they are not under the rain, though Kabuto also has Aqua Jet available. Of these, Tentacool resists one of its STAB moves and can OHKO with STAB Surf, while Krabby has its trademark Crabhammer available. Bulky Fighting-types such as Machop, too, make fine counters to Rock Polish Anorith.</p>

Click to expand...

SET]
name: Utility
move1: Stealth Rock
move2: Rapid Spin
move3: Rock Blast / Rock Slide
move4: Protect / Knock Off
item: Oran Berry / Lum Berry
nature: Adamant
evs: 76 Atk / 196 Def / 196 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With a much lower amount of entry hazards, and thus Rapid Spin users, in Little Cup than in almost any other metagame, Support Anorith is not quite as popular as it could be, which is a shame, as it is one of the five Pokemon in Little Cup that can learn the combination of Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin. While more offensively-inclined than many other support Pokemon, it has an excellent support movepool and the element of surprise with it, since many will expect an offensive Anorith as soon as they see one. Despite not seeing a lot of use in the fast-paced, hard-hitting metagame that is Little Cup, it is certainly a viable course for your Anorith to take, and can be a great method of support for your team. Anorith also makes a good lead with this combination, being able to set up Stealth Rock early-on with its good Speed stat, as well as taking very little damage from Fake Out.</p>

<p>Rapid Spin is the main attraction on this set, being able to remove entry hazards such as Spikes and Stealth Rock. The main reason for this is to allow your Pokemon with Focus Sashes to hopefully come in unscathed, and thus guaranteeing them at least a two-turn life, allowing them to grab an extra KO or set up. The damage caused is somewhat minimal initially in terms of significance owing to the large average damage output in Little Cup, though over time the build-up of damage can be very useful, especially considering that few Pokemon in Little Cup run Leftovers. For this reason you can set up your own Stealth Rock with Anorith, thereby allowing you to possibly free a moveslot on another Pokemon, such as Gible. Rock Blast is an interesting move that Anorith can use to great effect. Assuming it hits, it has a 50% chance to do more damage than Rock Slide, and a 25% chance to hit for less damage. However, the real magic in Rock Blast is not its damage output, but its utility; specifically, its ability to break Substitutes. With these EVs, A 0/0 Misdreavus Substitute is broken after one blow, and then Anorith can proceed to strike it up to four more times. If you do not want to use it this way or simply distrust your luck, then Rock Slide is always available as an alternative. The last slot is an interesting one; Anorith can use Protect to scout for moves, as well as checking what move a Choice-locked Pokemon will use on the switch. Knock Off is also useful for support purposes, ridding Pokemon of their precious Oran Berry or Choice Scarf. Anorith itself uses an Oran Berry for extra survivability, in keeping with the defensive nature of the set. Lum Berry can also be used if you are paranoid about status, such as Gastly's Hypnosis. If you want to use Anorith as a lead, it is advised that you place X-Scissor in the last slot for coverage against Diglett and Bronzor. You can also switch Rock Slide with Brick Break if you want, though you may lose some important coverage, particularly against Gastly leads. Rapid Spin is still useful to get rid of other leads' Stealth Rock; for example, when faced with a Diglett lead, you can X-Scissor as it uses Stealth Rock, let it survive with its Focus Sash, then survive its Earthquake and KO with Rapid Spin, killing Diglett and removing its entry hazards all in one stroke. Focus Sash is the preferred item to survive stronger blows, though Lum Berry is also an option against Gastly leads. You can keep the EVs the same if you want, or else use the standard sweeper EVs to maximize Speed and offensive capabilities.</p>

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bugmaniacbob said:

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/anorith
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[Overview]

<p>Anorith has good stats, an excellent set of dual double STABs and reliable offensive moves to back them up, but its prowess in the Little Cup competitive metagame is slightly shaky. Its offensive movepool is fairly shallow beyond the generic, (you just said he had reliable offensive moves..) iIts Rock typing gives it a weakness to fear of three of the most popular priority attacks in the game, with and no priority of its own, and while its Bug typing gives it a weakness to Stealth Rock. On top of all this, nearly all the Pokemon that can beat it sit comfortably at the top of the Little Cup and show no signs of being displaced. However, despite all this, Anorith's merits cannot be denied. He is both fast and powerful and has boosting moves to stress both points, He is not bad defensively either; (contradicting yourself there) although his typing is terrible defensively it is undoubtedly a godsend offensively, and all in all, Anorith has the potential to be one of the best sweepers or supporters in Little Cup, given the right teammates.</p>

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Choice Set:

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[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Rock Slide
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Brick Break
move 4: Body Slam / Double-Edge
item: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Anorith can run a Choice set reasonably effectively, boasting good Speed and Attack backed up by an excellent STAB combination. In general, an Adamant nature should be used with Choice Scarf to promote attacking power and a Jolly nature should be used with Choice Band to salvage lost Speed. With a Jolly nature and a Choice Band Anorith reaches 28 Attack and 18 Speed, while with an Adamant nature and a Choice Scarf it gets 20 Attack and 25 Speed. With this sort of power plus a Choice Band, Anorith becomes a force to be reckoned with in the Little Cup, as with very little few Pokemon are able to switch into it risk-free. The Choice Scarfer, on the other hand, is usually played more as a lategame sweeper and makeshift revenge-killer, taking down broken or weakened teams. In short, Choice Anorith is more than capable of wrecking an unprepared team when used correctly, and is underestimated at one's peril.</p>

<p>X-Scissor is Anorith's main initial STAB attack of choice and its most reliable form of lategame offense (you never mention its "final" attack of choice). While X-Scissor invites a switch to popular Pokemon such as Croagunk and Gligar, backed by Choice Band it will take a chunk off nearly anything it hits. (you aren't refering to the "Choice" set as a whole which can confuse the reader, besides, you already mentioned the advantages of both the items already..) Rock Slide is used as a secondary STAB move, as sadly Anorith does not get Stone Edge, though on the Choice Scarf set (again) the flinch chance mitigates this loss in power somewhat. Between the two moves, nearly every Pokemon in the Little Cup is hit for at least neutral damage. The remaining two moves are used for coverage purposes; Brick Break is by far the most useful for destroying Steel-types that Shieldon and Aron, both of which resist Anorith's STAB moves while . your fourth move covers the only other type that resists both Anorith's STABs: Fighting.The only other type that resists both Rock and Bug is the Fighting-type, which includes the common Croagunk, Machop and Mankey, who Anorith may need help in removing.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>An interesting tactic occasionally used is to use Aerial Ace can also be used on the first turn, doing to deal super effectivelarge amounts of damage to the Fighting-types that are typically the first to switch in to Anorith, thereby allowing a Pokemon such as Teddiursa to sweep freely, given its that Teddiursa's greatest weakness is to priority attacks from the likes of such as Croagunk's Vacuum Wave and Machop's Bullet Punch. However, Aerial Ace is unreliable and has few uses aside from this tactic, not to mention that there are other Pokemon such as Gligar that are also liable to switch in. In general, Double-Edge and Body Slam haves greater neutral coverage and has less risk attached to them. it, but has an unfortunate recoil side-effect, and Body Slam has a useful paralysis chance that can help your team out should it activate at the right time Crush Claw is also worth a look for the 50% chance of a Defense drop, though the Choice item makes it difficult to capitalize on thisthe momentary weakness.</p>

<p>Stealth Rock is very useful for helping Anorith sweep, not only to chip off HP from bulkier opponents such as Gligar, but also to break any Focus Sashes on foes like Gastly that will usually try to revenge-kill it. Rapid Spin support is also beneficial, as Anorith has a maximum of only five switch-ins with Stealth Rock on the field, and as this is a Choice set, Anorith is very likely to be switching often frequently. In general, bBy far the greatest threats to Choice Anorith are the Fighting-types previously mentioned, and it is all too easy to allow something like Croagunk to set up on your Choice-locked X-Scissor. In this situation Gastly or Gligar, provided Croagunk lacks the moves to deal with them, are is your best bets, though there is no assurance that they will work every time. Basically, Other than the aforementioned, the two biggest threats to Choice Anorith are Pokemon that resist the move into which Anorith is locked into after scoring a KO and faster revenge-killers. As Anorith lacks priority, thisese is are ultimately the easiest way to get rid of it for good., and Diglett is more than capable of putting it away whenile it is locked into Rock Slide while. Machop and Croagunk have Bullet Punch and Vacuum Wave respectively and will not hesitate to use them attack. There are very few support options that deter revenge-killing, though paralysis support can often help. Choice Anorith is very good at removing slower Pokemon that are weak to one of its moves, such as Slowpoke, Houndour and Snover, and the Scarf variant is excellent at revenge-killing weakened threats. These properties and its good type coverage make it a good partner to Pokemon such as Abra and Bellsprout, among others, which may be hindered by the Pokemon that Anorith is more than capable of handling.</p>

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Stealth Rock Lead

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[SET]
name: Stealth Rock Lead
move(space)1: Stealth Rock
move(space)21: Rapid Spin
move(space)32: X-Scissor
move(space)43: Brick Break / Rock Slide
item: Focus Sash
nature: Jolly
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Anorith is one of five Pokemon in Little Cup that can learn the combination of Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin, which combined with its decent Speed, offensive prowess and resistance to Fake Out makes it a worthy choice for a lead. While more directly offensively than many other supporting leads, it has an excellent support movepool and is one of the most reliable Stealth Rock users in the game. Despite a shorter lifespan than other, more offensive Anorith variants, as well as being slightly overshadowed by Kabuto due to a lack of priority and high-coverage STAB (contradicting your overview..), a lead is certainly a viable course for your Anorith to take, and can be a great method of support for your team.</p>

<p>Rapid Spin is the main attraction on this set, being able to remove entry hazards such as Spikes and Stealth Rocks and. The main reason for this is to allowing your Focus Sash-holding Pokemon with Focus Sashes to hopefully come in unscathed, and thus guaranteeing them at least a two-turn life, allowing them to grab an extra KO or set up. Anorith can also set up its own Stealth Rock to help your team, and while the damage caused by your own Stealth Rock is somewhat minimal initially in terms of significance, it has the advantage of breaking the opponent's Focus Sashes and over time the build-up of damage can be very useful, especially considering that no Pokemon in Little Cup can conceivably run Leftovers. One way to use this Anorith lead is to attack with X-Scissor as the opponent sets up Stealth Rock, and if they have a Focus Sash, Anorith can then use Rapid Spin to not only dispose of them outright but also to remove their Stealth Rocks entirely. X-Scissor is here as your main STAB attack, dealing a good amount of damage to most other leads, in particular, the frailer leads such as Meowth and Diglett. It can also usually 3HKO Bronzor through its Oran Berry, something Kabuto cannot do. For the last slot, Brick Break is the best option to take down Pokemon those that resist X-Scissor, such as Aron, while doing more damage to Kabuto and Meowth, as well as breaking Dual Sscreens set up by leads such as Bronzor, although it does leave you helpless against Gastly and Drifloon. Just remember that Rock Slide is always available as an alternative second STAB, which is helpful for the popular Ghost-types, as well as dealing with Drifloon and other Flying-types of the Little Cup.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Focus Sash is the preferred item to survive stronger blows, though Lum Berry is also an option to block Hypnosis from Meowth or Gastly leads. The Pokemon that benefit most from Anorith's support are those that are most affected by entry hazards; for example, Houndour is weak to Stealth Rock and so greatly benefits greatly from its removal from the field by Rapid Spin, and Grass-types such as Bellsprout that have checks in Fire-, Flying-, Bug-, and Ice-types, all of whom are worn down quicklyhit hard by Stealth Rock and can hopefully be pushed into Sucker Punch KO range after a few switch-ins. It is mostly sweepers Pokemon who benefit most from Anorith's particular brand of support, since Stealth RockAnorith can weaken opponents with Stealth Rock, and make them easier prey for the sweeper. Dragon Dance Dratini and Agility + Swords Dance Krabby are two examples of boosting sweepers that appreciate not being blocked by a random Focus Sash Pokemon. Also, Rapid Spin allows you to use frail sweepers with Focus Sash more readily, such as Gastly and Abra.</p>

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Rock Polish

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[SET]
name: Rock Polish
move 1: Rock Polish
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Brick Break
item: Life Orb / Oran Berry
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 Atk / 116 Def / 156 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Anorith has two desirable stat-boosting moves for procuring a sweep: Swords Dance and Rock Polish. This set focuses on the latter move, which boosts Anorith's decent Speed stat, allowing it to outspeed and OHKO many threats that would otherwise be able to revenge-kill, such as Timid Gastly and Abra. After one boost Anorith hits 32 Speed, outrunning just about all unboosted Pokemon in the Little Cup and quite a few that do have boosts, most important among them Jolly Choice Scarf Diglett (I'm pretty sure Scarf Diglett IS the fastest Pokemon in the tier). While slightly better protected against most revenge-killings from faster sweepers due to its boosted Speed stat and extra defensive EVs, Anorith may often find that it lacks the ability to power through bulky walls such as Gyro Ball Bronzor and Aqua Tail Gligar who can carry a super effective move to deal with it. Not only that, but it is still as weak to priority attacks as ever, and with has no particularly feasible way of beating Machop and other Fighting-types. Despite these shortcomings Rock Polish Anorith is still certainly very viable as a set, and will make your opponent pay should they you lack priority.</p>

<p>Anorith's two key STAB moves make up the core of this moveset once again, while Brick Break provides reasonable coverage against Steel-types. Life Orb is an option for you if you want to salvage your lost Attack stat, but it does detract from Anorith's ability to survive blows with the added defensive investment - if you want to increase survivability in this regard, Oran Berry is preferable, but remember that Anorith will lose out on a lot of power. The EVs and Nature allow for maximum attacking power while also granting you 16 Speed, enough to outrun just about everything in Little Cup after a Rock Polish boost. The remainder of the EVs grant you two extra points when placed in either Defense or Special Defense, which helps you take hits better and may well be the difference between life and death. Placing them both in Defense is usually preferable as Anorith will usually be better suited to taking hits from that end.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>A 0 HP IV is an option if you are using Life Orb, causing Life Orb damage to round down to 1 HP per move, which sounds good on paper but comes at the price of 2 extra hit points, which can limits Anorith's survivability. In the end, it comes down to your choice.</p>

<p>In many ways the Rock Polish set is very similar to the Swords Dance set on paper, with the identical combination of moves and items, and the only real differences being the set-up move of choice, the nature, and a point in Defense in exchange for Speed. However, when one uses the two sets in battle, they are played far more differently than one would expect at first glance. The Swords Dancer needs only to power its way through a slowed team, with little to stop it from OHKOing anything it walks into. Thus, the support required hinges deeply in building momentum against the opponent's team through such things as entry hazards and paralysis support, allowing Anorith to channel its power as smoothly as possible for as long as possible. With the Rock Polish sweeper, however, it is critical that any Pokemon that can take a hit, such as Bronzor, Gligar, Hippopotas, and bulky Fighting-types such as Machop, are all gone, since if you are unable to do so, Anorith will not last long, and you would probably have been better off(space)with a Choice set to help with the offensive pressure.</p>

<p>The bulkier Fighting-types present the biggest problem for this set, for unlike the Swords Dancer it can't simply muscle its way past them. To deal with them, the best method is almost always to play to resistances, especially with stronger ones like Machop, and then weaken or revenge-kill. Ghost-types such as Gastly and Drifloon can come into Choice-locked ones and set up, and Gligar can take a Fighting attack or two, attack with STAB Earthquake or Aerial Ace, and heal off the damage with Roost. For the walls mentioned above, most things with strong, super effective attacks and decent bulk can work, like Krabby, which can maul opponents with Crabhammer. Bronzor can be dealt with through strong Fire attacks from things like Houndour and Ponyta, while Gligar and Hippopotas are crushed by most special Water and Ice attacks.</p>

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Swords Dance:

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[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Brick Break
item: Life Orb / Oran Berry
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>As previously mentioned, Anorith has access to two important stat-boosting moves, both of which can be employed to attempt a sweep. While Swords Dance Anorith does not have most of the support factor exhibited by the Choice sets, and therefore loses much of its flexibility, it makes up for it with raw power, achieving 40 Attack with an Adamant nature after a Swords Dance, which combined with its powerful STAB moves, Life Orb, and decent Speed makes for a very effective lategame sweeper. Even with a Jolly nature, however, this Anorith suffers greatly from revenge-killing, more so than the Scarf and Rock Polish variants, and it is not always bulky enough to survive some neutral hits, especially after taking Life Orb recoil. Weakness to Bullet Punch and Aqua Jet does not help it either. It is also slightly overlooked in general in favor of Gligar as a Swords Dancer, which has greater bulk and a better movepool, though Anorith is sufficiently different and powerful enough to be a great threat in its own right.</p>

<p>Swords Dance is the core move of this set, boosting Anorith's Attack stat to sky-high levels, giving Adamant Anorith the power to OHKO Croagunk with no defensive investment with Life Orb Rock Slide 100% of the time with an Adamant nature, and even to occasionally take out 196/118 Machop with Brick Break, assuming some residual damageone or more turns of Flame Orb recoil or previous damage. Rock Slide and X-Scissor are necessary STAB moves that complement each other quite nicely, and unlike the Choice sets one cannot simply switch one's Mantyke into X-Scissor, for fear of Rock Slide. Only one slot is left for coverage. Brick Break is generally the superior choice, since despite losing coverage against Fighting-types it easily disposes of Shieldon and Aron and can also hit less bulky Fighting-types for decent damage, as demonstrated, though Machop Croagunk (you used Machop as your Brick Break example previously) resists it, and without it Anorith is completely exposed against most Steel-types.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The choice of item is an important one, since Life Orb gives the extra power needed for certain important KOs and is more useful if you are sure you can take down priority-wielding opposition, while Oran Berry is more defensively-inclined an item, providing a safeguard against weaker attacks and hopefully either allowing you to get an extra Swords Dance in or to live past an attempted revenge-kill. As for the natures, Adamant gives you a much-needed boost in extra power and is the recommended choice, while Jolly provides insurance against other Pokemon by ensuring you will beat others at 17 Speed and will tie with those at 18 Speed, thus preventing Timid Gastly from having an guaranteed easy revenge against you. The EVs are, again, fairly straightforward sweeping EVs, granting you the most possible Attack and Speed, while the rest is given up to an extra point in Defense. Again, you can run a 0 HP IV if you hold a Life Orb to minimize the damage taken.</p>

<p>Entry hazards, as a rule, are very valuable, especially for Anorith, since as previously mentioned, they break the opponent's Focus Sashes, and bring some residual damage to the tablethe added damage is quite useful. Rapid Spin support can also be useful, since Anorith is weak to it and those 5 HP can make the difference between life and death and survival. Again, as mentioned, (redundant) the biggest threats to this Anorith come from Fighting-types, particularly Machop, which can switch in, take little to no damage from what Anorith does, likely not taking any damage due to Anorith's setting up with Swords Dance or resistance to its STAB moves, and crush it with Scarf DynamicPunch or Guts Bullet Punch. Nearly anything with 19 or more Speed, too, works as a revenge-killer, though admittedly few Little Cup Pokemon reach that number unboosted, though things like Timid Staryu and Jolly Buizel can easily outrun and OHKO. A strong Pursuit-user such as Scarf Houndour can remove Pokemon such as Choiced Abra and Gastly, and hopefully pick up a Flash Fire boost from things like Ponyta. Chinchou can take on Staryu and Buizel to a reasonable extent, resisting their STAB and coverage moves and KOing with STAB Thunderbolt while , and Croagunk can come in on their STAB attacks thanks to Dry Skin and KO with Fake Out and Sucker Punch. In the case of Gligar, try to attack with strong Water or Ice attacks and it should make it fall.</p>

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The rest...:

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[Team Options]

<p>Stealth Rock and possibly Rapid Spin support are a great help to any Anorith that isn't the support set, which does that itself. Anorith is weak to Stealth Rock and needs all the health it can get to get a boost its stats boost (repeating get..) without too much trouble, and especially on the Choice sets where Anorith will be losing a lot of its health with repeated switch-ins over time. Stealth Rock support is useful to break Abra and Gastly Focus Sashes, thus preventing them from being absolute revenge-killers. Paralysis support is also useful for the Swords Dance variant to ensure that it outspeeds certain potential revenge-killers.</p>

<p>Sweeper Anorith is generally most at risk from strong Fighting-types and bulkier revenge-killers, such as Machop and Krabby. While the Swords Dance set is harder to counter outright, it is also far more at risk from faster Pokemon such as Buizel. In general, Fighting-types can be taken care of by Gastly, Duskull or Gligar, although you must be careful, since they can carry Ice- or Dark-type moves to take care of their supposed counters. In general the best way to be rid of them is with revenge-killers that can take a hit and strike back. For faster revenge-killers, Houndour can switch into Fire moves, as well as Abra and Gastly's STAB moves and, especially if they are Choiced, threaten a KO with Pursuit or Sucker Punch. Chinchou also makes a reasonably good partner, being able to switch into Ice, Electric and Water attacks from Buizel and Staryu and OHKO with STAB Thunderbolt. Croagunk is immune to Water-type moves and can kill with Fake Out + Sucker Punch. Krabby, too, makes an excellent partner to Anorith, able to switch into Aqua Jets and Bullet Punches with ease, and taking out Hippopotas, Gligar and Bronzor with STAB Crabhammer. Squirtle is a great compliment for similar reasons, being able to wall super effective attacks targeted at Anorith and also able to spin away Stealth Rock.</p>

<p>Diglett and Gligar are common partners with the Fighting-types that plague Anorith, which is bad news as both are quite capable of taking on Anorith themselves; Diglett in particular can trap Anorith after it has made a kill and KO with Earthquake or Sucker Punch, depending on the Anorith variant, and Oran Berry Gligar can set up Rock Polish or Swords Dance on Choice Anorith and then KO with Aqua Tail, fearing only a Swords Dance Rock Slide or a rare Hidden Power Ice. Machop is also a popular partner with Bronzor, meaning Anorith is likely to run into several counters to any one of its sets on any one team. Thus, if you are to you use Anorith to its fullest potential as a sweeper, it is imperative that you prepare thoroughly for as many threats to Anorith as possible. If you intend to use a Choice set, Anorith will usually be one of the supporting blocks under another's sweep, and it is important to note where Anorith can help out more than any other Pokemon. A fast, powerful X-Scissor allows you to take out Dark-, Psychic-, and Grass-types, and Rock Slide lets you get rid of Bug-, Fire-, Ice-, and Flying-types, allowing another Pokemon, such as Abra or Bellsprout, to have free reign.</p>

[Optional Changes]

<p>Anorith's Special Attack is not great, even by Little Cup standards, but it gets a couple of interesting attacks on that end. Earth Power is an intriguing interesting (this is so prose stuff.. repeating interesting..) option that has some utility over Brick Break on the Rock Polish set specifically especially. By diverting some EVs from Defense to Special Attack one can not only beat the original targets of Shieldon and Aron but also OHKO Croagunk, allowing you to bypass a supposed counter. Hidden Power Ice can also be used to deal some damage to Gligar. Screech can force switches and be used in tandem with Stealth Rock, but it is rather useless since Anorith has Swords Dance anyway. Already mentioned in the set descriptions are Aerial Ace and Crush Claw - Aerial Ace hits the Fighting-types that wall his STAB moves, though its coverage and power beyond that is not good. Crush Claw has decent power and a nice chance of lowering the opponent's Defense as well as a lot of neutral coverage, but has lackluster base powerdoes not hit anything in particular for very great damage. (base power is Crush Claw's downside.. you can't put it in the pro side D=)</p>

<p>On all offensive sets, 236 Attack EVs are is the way to go, maxing out your Attack and also your potential damage output. 236 Speed is also advisable, to maximize your Speed stat, although not so much is needed on the Rock Polish set to reach the desired Speed after a boost; 76 Speed allows you to hit 30 speed after the a boost, outrunning all unboosted Pokemon just before Scarfed base 95s, which is rare., while 156 Speed allows you to hit 32, beating all Scarf Pokemon in Little Cup, as well as many boosted Pokemon (this is the main EV spread..). The remaining EVs can be drafted into Defense; 36 EVs gives you one extra point, 116 gives you two. If you are using Earth Power or another special attack, you can move the 116 EVs to Special Attack for two extra points, and use a Naughty or Lonely nature. On a the Support set the majority of the EVs should be are loaded into the defensive stats to promote sturdiness while 76 EVs are granted to Attack to provide some classic offensive power (there is no support set O_o). If you run a Life Orb set, you can run a 0 HP IV to minimize the damage taken from Life Orb, greatly increasing your survivability. (say what?)</p>

[Counters]

<p>It is very difficult to find a truly hard counter to the Swords Dance set, although bulky Choice Band Machop comes close. It is really much easier to revenge-kill than to straight-out wall. Abra and Gastly can both outspeed Adamant versions and KO with their STAB attacks, while Croagunk resists every move it has and has OHKO potential with one of its many priority moves. Machop and Mankey have similar honors to their name. Diglett, too, can trap and revenge-kill nearly any Anorith with Earthquake, Sucker Punch, or a super effective Rock Slide, besides the Choice and Rock Polish variants. Faster Water-types with OHKO potential include Poliwag, Staryu, and Buizel, the latter of whom also has STAB Aqua Jet.</p>

<p>The Rock Polish set is far easier to counter per se - it often does not have the power to beat some of the walls that the Swords Dancer can simply hammer through, despite being faster and thus harder to revenge-kill. Bronzor can take an X-Scissor and survive with an Oran Berry, and Gyro Ball versions can easily KO after a Rock Polish. Gligar also easily survives, and can stall with Roost or crush with a super effective Aqua Tail. Hippopotas has Slack Off and STAB Earthquake, but the weather it brings with it can actually help Anorith by increasing its resilience against special attacks. Defensive Water-types with OHKO potential include Tentacool, Krabby, Squirtle, Omanyte, and Kabuto, although the latter two have to be wary of Brick Break if they are not under the rain, though Kabuto also has Aqua Jet available. Of these, Tentacool resists one of its STAB moves and can OHKO with STAB Surf, while Krabby has its trademark Crabhammer available. As repeatedly mentioned, bulky Fighting-types such as Machop, too, make fine counters to Rock Polish Anorith.</p>

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[Overview]

<p>Anorith has good stats, excellent dual STABs, and reliable offensive moves to back them up, but its prowess in Little Cup is slightly shaky. Its Rock typing gives it a weakness to three of the most popular priority attacks in the game, while its Bug typing gives it a weakness to Stealth Rock. On top of this, nearly all of the Pokemon who can beat it sit comfortably at the top of Little Cup and show no signs of being displaced. Despite all this, Anorith's merits cannot be denied. It is both fast and powerful, with access to boosting moves to stress both points. Although its typing is terrible defensively, it is undoubtedly a godsend offensively. All in all, Anorith has the potential to be one of the best sweepers or supporters in Little Cup, given the right teammates.</p>

[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Rock Slide
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Brick Break
move 4: Body Slam / Double-Edge
item: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Anorith can run a Choice set reasonably effectively due to good Speed and Attack backed up by an excellent STAB combination. In general, an Adamant nature should be used with a Choice Scarf to promote attacking power, while a Jolly nature should be used with a Choice Band to salvage lost Speed. With a Jolly nature and a Choice Band, Anorith reaches 28 Attack and 18 Speed, while with an Adamant nature and a Choice Scarf, it has 20 Attack and 25 Speed. The Choice Band allows Anorith to become a force to be reckoned with in Little Cup, with very little being able to switch into it risk-free. On the other hand, the Choice Scarf set is usually played more as a late-game cleaner and makeshift revenge killer, taking down broken or weakened teams.</p>

<p>X-Scissor is Anorith's main STAB attack and its most reliable form of late-game offense. Rock Slide is used as a secondary STAB move, as sadly Anorith does not get Stone Edge, though the flinch chance somewhat mitigates this loss in power. The remaining two moves are used for coverage purposes; Brick Break helps destroy Steel-types who resist Anorith's STAB moves, while the fourth slot covers the only other type that resists both Rock- and Bug-type attacks: Fighting. In general, the best way to damage Machop and Croagunk without locking Anorith into a weak move is to use a strong neutral attack, as Anorith's movepool is fairly shallow. Double-Edge is very powerful, but causes recoil damage, while Body Slam can allow Anorith to get some lucky paralysis on the opposing team, which can help out against potential revenge killers.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Aerial Ace can also be used to weaken the Fighting-types who are typically the first to switch in on Anorith, therefore allowing a Pokemon such as Teddiursa to sweep more easily. However, Aerial Ace has few uses aside from this, not to mention that there are other Pokemon such as Gligar who are also liable to switch in. In general, Double-Edge and Body Slam have greater neutral coverage and less risk attached compared to Aerial Ace. Crush Claw is also worth consideration for the 50% chance of a Defense drop, though having a Choice item makes it difficult to capitalize on this.</p>

<p>Stealth Rock is very useful for helping Anorith sweep because not only does it chip off HP from bulkier opponents such as Gligar, but it also breaks the Focus Sash of foes like Gastly. Additionally, Rapid Spin support is beneficial, as Anorith only has a maximum of five switches with Stealth Rock on the field, and as this is a Choice set, Anorith is very likely to be switching often. By far the greatest threats to Choice Anorith are Fighting-types, and it is all too easy to allow a Pokemon like Croagunk to set up on Anorith's Choice-locked X-Scissor. In this situation, Gastly and Gligar are your best bets provided that Croagunk lacks the moves to deal with them.</p>

<p>Essentially, the two biggest threats to Choice Anorith are Pokemon who resist the move Anorith is locked into and faster revenge killers. Diglett is more than capable of removing Anorith when it is locked into Rock Slide, while Machop and Croagunk can dispose of Anorith with Bullet Punch and Vacuum Wave, respectively. There are very few support options that deter revenge killing, though paralysis support can help. Choice Anorith is great at removing slower Pokemon who are weak to one of its moves, such as Slowpoke, Houndour, and Snover, while the Scarf variant is excellent at revenge killing weakened threats. These traits make Anorith a good partner to Pokemon such as Abra and Bellsprout, who may be hindered by the Pokemon whom Anorith can easily handle.</p>

[SET]
name: Stealth Rock Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Rapid Spin
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Brick Break / Rock Slide
item: Focus Sash
nature: Jolly
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Anorith is one of five Pokemon in Little Cup who can learn the combination of Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin, which combined with its decent Speed, offensive prowess, and resistance to Fake Out makes it a worthy choice for a lead. While more directly offensive than many other supporting leads, it has an excellent support movepool and is one of the most reliable Stealth Rock users in Little Cup. Despite a shorter lifespan than the more offensive Anorith sets, as well as being slightly overshadowed by Kabuto due to a lack of priority, a lead is certainly a viable choice for Anorith to take, and can be a great method of support for your team.</p>

<p>Rapid Spin is the main attraction on this set, being able to remove entry hazards such as Spikes and Stealth Rock. Anorith can also set up its own Stealth Rock to help your team, breaking the opponent's Focus Sash and building up damage over time. One way to use this Anorith is to attack as the opponent sets up entry hazards, and if it has a Focus Sash, use Rapid Spin to not only dispose of it outright but also to remove its entry hazards. X-Scissor is Anorith's main STAB attack, dealing a good amount of damage to most other leads, in particular the frailer leads such as Meowth and Diglett. It can also 3HKO Bronzor through its Oran Berry, something Kabuto cannot do. For the last slot, Brick Break is the best option to take down Pokemon who resist X-Scissor, such as Aron, deal more damage to Kabuto and Meowth, and break screens set up by leads such as Bronzor, although it does leave Anorith helpless against Gastly and Drifloon. Remember that Rock Slide is always available as an alternative secondary STAB for the popular Ghost- and Flying-types of Little Cup.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Focus Sash is the preferred item to survive stronger blows, though Lum Berry is also an option to block Hypnosis from Meowth and Gastly leads. The Pokemon who benefit most from Anorith's support are those who are most affected by entry hazards; for example, Houndour is weak to Stealth Rock and, as such, greatly benefits from its removal from the field, and Grass-types such as Bellsprout can more easily deal with Fire-, Flying-, Bug-, and Ice-types after they make a couple of switches into Stealth Rock. It is mostly sweepers who benefit from Anorith's particular brand of support, since Stealth Rock can weaken opponents and make them easier prey. Dragon Dance Dratini and Agility + Swords Dance Krabby are two examples of boosting sweepers who appreciate not being blocked by a random Focus Sash user.</p>

[SET]
name: Rock Polish
move 1: Rock Polish
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Brick Break
item: Life Orb / Oran Berry
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 Atk / 116 Def / 156 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Anorith has two desirable stat-boosting moves for procuring a sweep: Swords Dance and Rock Polish. This set focuses on the latter move, which boosts Anorith's decent 16 Speed stat to an impressive 32, allowing it to outspeed and OHKO many threats who would otherwise be able to revenge kill it. While slightly better protected against most revenge killers due to its boosted Speed stat and extra Defense EVs, Anorith may often find that it lacks the ability to power through bulky walls such as Bronzor and Gligar. Not only that, but it is still as weak to priority attacks as ever, and has no particularly feasible way of beating Machop and other Fighting-types.</p>

<p>Anorith's two key STAB moves make up the core of this moveset once again, while Brick Break provides reasonable coverage against Steel-types. Life Orb is an option if you want to salvage Anorith's lost Attack stat, but it does detract from its ability to survive blows even with the added defensive investment—if you want to increase survivability in this regard, Oran Berry is preferable, but remember that Anorith will lose out on a lot of power. The EVs and nature allow for maximum attacking power while also granting Anorith 16 Speed. The remainder of the EVs grant Anorith two extra points when placed in either Defense or Special Defense, which helps it take hits better and may well be the difference between life and death. Placing them both into Defense is preferable as Anorith is usually better suited at taking hits from that end.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Setting Anorith's HP IV to 0 is an option if Life Orb is chosen, causing Life Orb damage to round down to 1 HP per move; while this may sound good on paper, it comes at the price of 2 extra hit points, which limits Anorith's survivability. In the end, it comes down to your personal preference.</p>

<p>In many ways, the Rock Polish set is very similar to the Swords Dance set, with the identical combination of moves and items, and the only real differences being the set-up move of choice, the nature, and a point in Defense in exchange for Speed. However, these two sets in battle are played far more differently than one would expect at first glance. The Swords Dance set needs only to power its way through a slow team, with little to stop it from OHKOing anything it walks into. Thus, the support required hinges deeply in building momentum against the opponent's team through entry hazards and paralysis support, allowing Anorith to channel its power as smoothly as possible for as long as possible. With the Rock Polish sweeper, however, it is critical that any Pokemon who can take a hit, such as Bronzor, Gligar, Hippopotas, and bulky Fighting-types such as Machop, are all gone, since if you are unable to do so, Anorith will not last long, and you would probably have been better off with a Choice set to help with offensive pressure.</p>

<p>Bulky Fighting-types present the biggest problem for this set, because unlike the Swords Dancer, it can't just simply muscle its way past them. To deal with them, the best method is to almost always play with resistances, especially with stronger ones like Machop, and then weaken or revenge kill. Ghost-types such as Gastly and Drifloon can come into Choice-locked Fighting-types and set up, while Gligar can take a Fighting attack or two, attack with STAB Earthquake or Aerial Ace, and heal off the damage with Roost. Against Bronzor, Gligar, and Hippopotas, most Pokemon with strong, super effective attacks and decent bulk, such as Krabby, are capable of mauling the walls with ease. Bronzor can be dealt with through strong Fire attacks from Fire-types like Houndour and Ponyta, while Gligar and Hippopotas are crushed by most special Water and Ice attacks.</p>

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Brick Break
item: Life Orb / Oran Berry
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>While Swords Dance Anorith does not have most of the support exhibited by the Choice sets, it makes up for it with raw power, achieving 40 Attack with an Adamant nature after a Swords Dance boost. Even with a Jolly nature, however, this Anorith suffers greatly from revenge killing, more so than the Choice Scarf and Rock Polish variants, and it is usually not bulky enough to survive neutral hits. Weaknesses to Bullet Punch and Aqua Jet does not help it, either. It is also slightly overlooked in favor of Gligar as a Swords Dancer, who has greater bulk and a better movepool, though Anorith has its own share of advantages as well.</p>

<p>Swords Dance is the core of this set, allowing Anorith to boost its Attack stat sky-high, OHKO Croagunk with Life Orb Rock Slide, and occasionally take out bulky Machop with Brick Break, assuming some residual damage has taken effect. Rock Slide and X-Scissor are necessary STAB moves that complement each other quite nicely, and unlike the Choice sets, the opponent cannot simply switch Mantyke into X-Scissor due to the fear of Rock Slide. Only one slot is left for coverage: Brick Break is generally the best choice, since it easily disposes of Steel-types and can also hit bulky Fighting-types for decent damage.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The choice of item is an important one. Life Orb gives the extra power needed to obtain certain important KOs, and is more useful if you are sure that Anorith can take down priority-wielding opposition, while Oran Berry is more defensively-inclined an item, providing a safeguard against weaker attacks and hopefully either allowing Anorith to get an extra Swords Dance boost or to survive an attempted revenge kill. As for the nature, Adamant is recommended because it gives Anorith a much-needed boost in power, while Jolly provides insurance against other Pokemon by ensuring that Anorith will beat Pokemon at 17 Speed and tie with those at 18 Speed. The EVs are fairly straightforward sweeping EVs, granting Anorith the best possible Attack and Speed, while the rest are given up to an extra point in Defense. Again, you can run 0 HP IVs if you let Anorith hold a Life Orb to minimize the damage taken.</p>

<p>Entry hazards are very valuable since they break the opponent's Focus Sashes and cause residual damage. Rapid Spin support can also be useful, since Anorith is weak to Stealth Rock and having 5 HP spared can make the difference between life and death. Again, the biggest threats to this Anorith come from Fighting-types, particularly Machop, who can switch in, take little to no damage as Anorith sets up, and crush it with Scarf DynamicPunch or Guts Bullet Punch. Nearly any Pokemon with 19 or more Speed, such as Timid Staryu and Jolly Buizel, can work as a revenge killer. A strong Pursuit user such as Scarf Houndour can remove Pokemon such as Choiced Abra and Gastly, and hopefully pick up a Flash Fire boost from Pokemon like Ponyta. Chinchou can take on Staryu and Buizel to a reasonable extent, resisting their STAB and coverage moves and KOing with STAB Thunderbolt, while Croagunk can come in on their STAB attacks thanks to Dry Skin and KO with Fake Out and Sucker Punch. In Gligar's case, strong Water- or Ice-type attacks should fell it.</p>

[Team Options]

<p>Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin support are helpful to any Anorith (besides the lead). Anorith is weak to Stealth Rock and needs all the health it can get to boost its stats or deal damage without too much trouble, especially on the Choice sets, where Anorith will be losing a lot of its health over time. Stealth Rock support is useful for breaking Abra and Gastly's Focus Sashes, thus preventing them from being absolute revenge killers. Paralysis support is also useful for the Swords Dance variant to ensure that Anorith outspeeds certain potential revenge killers.</p>

<p>Anorith is generally most at risk from strong Fighting-types and bulkier revenge killers. In general, Fighting-types can be taken care of by Gastly, Duskull, or Gligar, although you must be careful, since they can carry Ice- or Dark-type moves. In general, the best way to remove them is with revenge killers who can take a hit and strike back. For faster revenge killers, Houndour can switch into Fire-type moves, as well as Abra and Gastly's STAB moves, and threaten a KO with Pursuit or Sucker Punch. Chinchou also makes a good partner, being able to switch into Ice-, Electric-, and Water-type attacks from Buizel and Staryu and OHKO them with STAB Thunderbolt. Croagunk is immune to Water-type moves and can dispose of Water-types with Fake Out + Sucker Punch. Krabby makes an excellent partner to Anorith, being able to switch into Aqua Jet and Bullet Punch with ease, and take out Hippopotas, Gligar, and Bronzor with STAB Crabhammer. Squirtle is a great teammate for similar reasons, as it can wall super effective attacks targeted at Anorith and spin away Stealth Rock.</p>

[Optional Changes]

<p>Anorith's Special Attack is not great, even by Little Cup standards, but it gets a couple of interesting attacks from that end. Earth Power is an intriguing option that has some utility over Brick Break (especially on the Rock Polish set). By diverting some EVs from Defense to Special Attack, Anorith can not only beat the original targets of Shieldon and Aron, but also OHKO Croagunk. Hidden Power Ice can be used to deal some damage to Gligar. Screech can force switches and be used in tandem with Stealth Rock, but it is rather useless since Anorith has Swords Dance anyway. Already mentioned in the set descriptions are Aerial Ace and Crush Claw—Aerial Ace hits the Fighting-types who wall Anorith's STAB moves, though its coverage and power beyond that is poor. Crush Claw has a nice chance of lowering the opponent's Defense as well as having great neutral coverage, but has low Base Power.</p>

<p>On the Rock Polish set, you can lower Anorith's Speed EVs to increase defensive capability if you are sure that Anorith can pull off a Rock Polish boost—76 Speed allows Anorith to hit 30 Speed after the boost, which is still sufficient to outrun every Pokemon of note besides Choice Scarf Diglett. Doing this also allows Anorith to glean another precious point in one of its defensive stats. You should not add EVs to HP unless Life Orb isn't present, which is inadvisable. For the defensive stats, 36 Defense EVs give Anorith one extra point, and 116 gives it two, making either 236 Atk / 196 Def / 76 Spe usable for an extra point in Defense, or 236 Atk / 116 Def / 36 SpD / 76 Spe for an extra point in Special Defense. If you are using Earth Power or another special attack on Anorith, you should move the defensive EVs to Special Attack and use a Naughty or Lonely nature. If you run a Life Orb set, you can run 0 HP IVs to minimize the damage taken from Life Orb.</p>

[Counters]

<p>It is very difficult to find a hard counter to the Swords Dance set, although bulky Choice Band Machop comes close. It is really much easier to revenge kill than to straight-out wall this set. Abra and Gastly can both outspeed Adamant versions and KO with their STAB attacks, while Croagunk resists every move it uses and has OHKO potential with one of its many priority moves. Machop and Mankey work in the same way, while Choice Scarf variants can outrun and OHKO with their STAB moves. Diglett can trap and revenge kill nearly any Anorith with Earthquake, Sucker Punch, or a super effective Rock Slide, besides the Choice Scarf and Rock Polish sets. Faster Water-types with OHKO potential include Poliwag, Staryu, and Buizel, the latter of whom also has STAB Aqua Jet.</p>

<p>The Rock Polish set is far easier to counter per se—it often does not have the power to beat some of the walls whom the Swords Dancer can simply hammer through, despite being faster and thus harder to revenge kill. Bronzor can take an X-Scissor and survive with Oran Berry, and Gyro Ball versions can easily KO after Anorith uses Rock Polish. Gligar also easily survives Anorith's attacks, and can stall with Roost or crush Anorith with a super effective Aqua Tail. Hippopotas has Slack Off and STAB Earthquake, but the weather it brings with it can actually help Anorith by increasing its bulk against special attacks. Defensive Water-types with OHKO potential include Tentacool, Krabby, Squirtle, Omanyte, and Kabuto, although the latter two have to be wary of Brick Break if they are not under the rain. Of these, Tentacool resists Anorith's Bug STAB and can OHKO with STAB Surf, Krabby has its trademark Crabhammer available, and Kabuto can blast Anorith away with Aqua Jet. Bulky Fighting-types such as Machop also make fine counters to Rock Polish Anorith.</p>

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