



http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/piplup
STATUS: READY FOR UPLOAD
[OVERVIEW]
<p>Piplup has always been in the shadow of other Water-type Pokémon, due to his lack of priority moves, an Electric immunity, or a Ground immunity. However, Piplup's bulk and pure Water-typing give him an advantage over his aquatic friends. He can easily survive a Diglett's Earthquake (unlike Kabuto and Chinchou), as well as weak Hidden Powers. Piplup may have some flaws, but he can be surprisingly useful; one just needs to take advantage of his strengths.</p>
[SET]
name: Anti-Lead Piplup
move 1: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 2: Icy Wind
move 3: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Stealth Rock
item: Oran Berry / Focus Sash
nature: Timid
evs: 92 HP / 12 Def / 192 SpA / 200 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Piplup's bulk, great typing, and access to Stealth Rock make him a great candidate in the lead position. He easily defeats Ground- and Rock-type Pokemon, which gives him a multitude of occasions on which to set up Stealth Rock.</p>
<p>Icy Wind is essential to this set. It allows Piplup to break the opponent's Focus Sash on turn one. Then, thanks to Icy Wind's secondary effect of lowering the opponent's Speed, Piplup can outrun the opposing lead and set up Stealth Rock or simply KO the opposing Pokemon. This move is invaluable against leads relying on their Speed to be effective, such as Meowth, Diglett, and Chimchar.</p>
<p>The choice between Hidden Power Fire and Hidden Power Grass is a tough one. Hidden Power Fire gives Piplup the upper hand against Snover, who can otherwise cause some problems, but then leaves him completely helpless against other Water Pokemon, such as Chinchou, Squirtle, Buizel, and Horsea. Hidden Power Grass can also be used to assure the OHKO on Kabuto, Omanyte, and Barboach.</p>
[ADDITIONNAL COMMENTS]
<p>Maximum Speed and a Timid nature may seem odd for a support-inclined lead set, but the 14 Speed mark Piplup achieves is absolutely necessary. The Speed EVs allow Piplup to outspeed every Pokemon in LC, bar Choice Scarf users, after a Speed drop from Icy Wind. Apart from those important EVs, the spread is rather simple. Special Attack is maximized to get as much power as possible, while the remaining EVs are allocated to HP and Defense to increase Piplup's survivability.</p>
<p>The item choice depends on whether you want Piplup to have more survivability or a better match-up against faster leads who might OHKO Piplup. For example, Diglett will be able to 2HKO Piplup if he isn't holding an Oran Berry. The same goes for Gligar holding a Focus Sash. For these reasons, Oran Berry is the preferred option. With Focus Sash, however, Piplup will be able to survive attacks from faster leads, such as Voltorb and Gastly, giving him the chance to use Icy Wind or to simply use Hydro Pump right away for the KO.</p>
<p>Piplup has problems with Snover unless he is running Hidden Power Fire and Snover is not holding a Focus Sash (which is an unlikely scenario). Therefore, it would be a great idea for you to have a good Snover counter. Fire-types, such as Ponyta and Magby, make great candidates for this role, as they can switch in on Snover's STAB attacks and retaliate with Overheat or Flare Blitz. Bronzor also comes to mind, as it can easily switch into Snover and threaten him with Gyro Ball.</p>
[SET]
name: Support Penguin
move 1: Surf
move 2: Ice Beam / Hidden Power Electric
move 3: Yawn
move 4: Stealth Rock
item: Oran Berry
ability: Torrent
nature: Bold / Calm
evs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 148 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Piplup has great bulk and a good defensive typing, which gives him a lot of opportunities to set up Stealth Rock. He also has a wide support movepool, making him a great choice for such a role in Little Cup. The primary advantage of having Piplup as a support Pokemon is that he is not only able to set up Stealth Rock, but also able to counter Rain Dance sweepers, a great threat in the Little Cup metagame. Mantyke without a Life Orb will be unable to OHKO Piplup with a rain-boosted Surf or super effective Hidden Power, and Buizel's Return will also fail to KO Piplup. Other Swift Swimmers, such as Surskit, non-Life Orb Horsea, Omanyte, Kabuto, and Goldeen, will be stopped cold by Piplup's incredible bulk. However, repeated assault from the aforementioned threats will wear Piplup down.</p>
<p>Stealth Rock is obviously the crux of this set. Even if it isn't as important in Little Cup as it is in the OU metagame, it is still helpful in checking Little Cup's omnipresent Choice Scarf users. It reduces the lifespan of threats such as Mantyke and Snover, as well as negating the effects of Focus Sash. However, what makes Piplup such a good user of Stealth Rock is the ability to abuse it with Yawn. Yawn is extremely useful in the Little Cup metagame because it forces switches, racking up residual damage from Stealth Rock and scouting the opposing team. Surf is there for a consistent STAB attack, although its damage output is low due to the lack of Special Attack EVs on this set. In the second slot, Hidden Power Electric is preferable to handle Swift Swimmers who will otherwise easily defeat Piplup, but Ice Beam can handle Grass-types, such as Shroomish and Paras.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The bulky EV spread maximizes Piplup's survivability. With the specified EVs, Piplup can survive two Rock Slides from Kabuto leads (three with an Oran Berry). The EVs also allow Piplup to easily survive unboosted super effective Hidden Powers from the likes of Mantyke, Horsea, and Surskit, as well as Omanyte's AncientPower and Buizel's Return.</p>
<p>Oran Berry is by far the preferable item to increase Piplup's lifespan. It also allows Piplup to transform many opponent's 2HKOs into 3HKOs, thus giving you a great advantage over the enemy.</p>
<p>Pairing Piplup with Pokemon able to set up Spikes (Pineco and Omanyte come to mind) is a great idea to take advantage of the switches provoked by Yawn. Also, priority users, such as Croagunk, can easily take advantage of a team weakened by entry hazards. Setup sweepers, such as Dratini, Aron, and Totodile, are very useful when it is time to take advantage of a free turn provided by Yawn, and could easily spell death to the rest of the opponent's team. On a more defensive note, having a Pokemon who can easily switch into Electric and Grass attacks is really useful to Piplup. Shroomish is thus a great partner, because he complements Piplup defensively, and can set up on Electric- or Grass-type moves aimed at the miniature penguin.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Since most of Piplup's sets require little or no set-up, the best way to provide team support for him is to get rid of his counters. Since Munchlax is one of Piplup's greatest counters, Pokemon able to take him out quickly are very useful to the blue penguin. Diglett, Trapinch, and Wynaut are able to trap and KO him easily. Strong physical attackers, such as Mankey and Machop, can also defeat Munchlax with ease. Drifloon and Duskull have enough bulk to survive multiple Pursuits and can come in on a Return or Earthquake from Munchlax and burn him. Bulky Waters can also give Piplup trouble. The best example is Chinchou, who can easily come in on a Surf or Hydro Pump and threaten Piplup with Thunderbolt. Diglett can come in on a Thunderbolt and defeat Chinchou with Earthquake. Wynaut can trap opponents with his Shadow Tag ability and OHKO them with Mirror Coat.</p>
<p>Grass-types, such as Bulbasaur, Lileep, Paras, Bellsprout, and Shroomish, all give Piplup a hard time. Doduo can switch in on a Sleep Powder (hoping to wake up quickly with Early Bird) or Grass-type attacks without fear and threaten with Brave Bird or Drill Peck, while Mankey can switch on sleep moves with impunity (thanks to his ability, Vital Spirit) and U-turn away to scout. As mentioned earlier, another threat to Piplup in the lead position is Snover. Without Hidden Power Fire, Piplup is helpless against him. Magnemite can abuse its resistances by taking a Blizzard or Energy Ball from Snover and retaliate with Flash Cannon. Speaking of resistances, Shieldon is a great way to stop Snover, taking little damage from almost anything the frozen tree can throw at him and striking back with Stone Edge and Iron Head. Various Fire-types, such as Magby and Houndour, can come in on his STAB attacks and retaliate with a Fire attack. Makuhita can also take a Blizzard if he runs Thick Fat and fight back with Brick Break or Cross Chop.</p>
<p>As previously mentioned, pairing Piplup with Pokemon able to take advantage of free turns, such as Dratini, Totodile, and Shroomish, can prove useful to the team, and thus should be something that you consider when you're building a team that includes Piplup.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Piplup's movepool is shallow, so he has very few options apart from the ones already listed. Still, he can run a few gimmicky sets to surprise the opponent. An Agility set could be used, but Piplup is generally outclassed by Chinchou, Mantyke, and Horsea in that area. A physical set could be used with moves such as Waterfall, Pluck, Drill Peck, Brick Break, and Rock Tomb to lure Munchlax, though Munchlax can still come out on top. A Rain Dance set could be used for support, as well as a Toxic + Protect one. On the support set, Featherdance can be useful to stop physical attackers, such as Mankey, who can switch in on Yawn with impunity. Piplup can use Substitute to ease prediction and scout for status. Also, a Choice Scarf or Specs set is usable with Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and Hidden Power, but again, this role is generally performed better by other bulky Waters, such as Chinchou and Mantyke.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Chinchou, Snover, and Munchlax are probably Piplup's greatest enemies. The first two can take a Hydro Pump and retaliate with a powerful STAB attack. Munchlax can also take a Hydro Pump (although Torrent- and Choice Specs-boosted attacks might leave a mark) and strike back with Return for a 2HKO. Various bulky Grass-types, such as Lileep and Shroomish, can come in on a Water-type attack or Hidden Power (although they have to be wary of Ice Beam) and strike back with a strong Seed Bomb or Energy Ball. Pokemon who are immune to Water-type attacks, such as Mantyke and Paras, can cause Piplup some problems. Most notably, Croagunk can easily come in on any of Piplup's attacks except Specs-boosted Ice Beam and KO him. Porygon can take an unboosted Hydro Pump or Surf and OHKO with Thunderbolt back. Faster Pokemon with a super effective attack, such as Gastly, Drifloon, Staryu, and Voltorb, can revenge kill Piplup.</p>