Gen 4 An RMT for a Dead Meta (my 2k)

[Nails]

Hey guys, for my 2k post I'd like to go back to the beginning of my smogon career and post a DPP LC team. DPP LC was the first tier I ever really set foot in and for those who don't know, the tl;dr is it's a fast paced tier with almost no strong boosting sweepers (rain is a notable exception) and almost nothing resembling stall (unless you're eo). The resulting metagame is an extremely fun game built around trading damage with hard hitters and resistances/immunities, with a premium on long-term planning and favoring playstyles closely resembling bulky offense or hyper offense in other tiers. I feel it's something of a hidden gem, most long-time tournament players know it's good but the new crowd might not be aware of it and so I'd like to provide them with a strong, well-rounded team to play around with that they can customize. For further reading on the meta, check out the little cup guide which was a massive project put together to teach newer players about the tier.

The team itself is quite straightforward, it just focuses on doing more damage and taking less damage than the other guy; you hit him until he falls over. Here's a replay of the team in action (just a friendly) which should give some perspective on the flow of DPP LC play.

Machop @ Oran Berry
Ability: No Guard
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 116 Def / 76 Spe (can move points out of hp or speed or defense into the others)
Adamant Nature
- Dynamic Punch
- Ice Punch
- Payback / Bullet Punch
- Protect / Bullet Punch

Machop is a pretty straightforward lead, he does a lot of damage while being pretty fat. A lot of other leads like Chimchar, Gastly, Aipom, etc. exist to get momentum with Fake Out, Stealth Rock, sleep, and other strategies but Machop just likes to hit stuff. He gets forced out by a decent amount of opponents (most notably Gastly who can't miss Hypnosis against it) but he can switch back in later and threaten Munchlax with an ohko. 25/13 (26 if max hp) is very good physical bulk and the Oran Berry means the opposing team will nearly always be put into an awkward spot and be forced into sacrificng something to take him down. He's not flashy and he won't sweep teams but he'll always put in work (unless the opposing team has Slowpoke). Dynamicpunch is fantastic stab, Ice Punch hits Gligar and is a good catch-all coverage move, Payback is for hitting ghostys on the switch (this was a good mechanic and should be brought back), Protect is for blocking Fake Out, notably from Chimchar who doesn't kill with Overheat but always kills with Fake Out + Overheat and also for scouting choiced mons. Bullet Punch is a strong option as well due to priority being generally strong in DPP LC, with the added utility of popping sashes on enemy leads.

Munchlax @ Oran Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
Level: 5
Happiness: 0
EVs: 236 Atk / 196 Def / 76 Spe (moving points between def, speed, and sdef is acceptable)
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Ice Punch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake

Munchlax is the best pokemon in DPP LC. It is the only mon bulky enough to switch into neutral special attacks (special mention to Lileep in sand) and it hits very hard with coverage that can be tailored to the team. Along with Stunky it blocks Gastly from terrorizing everything. Preserving your Munchlax's HP for when you really need it is a key skill, since it wins damage trades with most of the metagame and it should not be squandered. It functions as something of a roadblock, it eventually gets beaten down but ensures that you don't get swept by anything. Munchlax is a fantastic example of when a pokemon is stronger than pretty much everything else but not broken, and vital to metagame health. Some people might disagree on me with respect to the strength of Munchlax (probably on the degree that I'm praising it) but whatever.

Duskull @ Oran Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
Happiness: 0
EVs: 196 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

The other half of the MunchSkull combo, Duskull is a mon which was nearly never used during the DPP era of Little Cup which is a shame because it's one of the best pokemon in my opinion, almost solely for its ability to switch into and beat/cripple Munchlax and Machop. People played around with it as a Gligar check with Ice Beam or something, idk. This set is slightly less straightforward than the others, but it's still largely focused on trading damage (notice a pattern?). Normal coverage is very very good, the only pokemon not hit for a solid chunk are rocks/steels/Gligar which dislike tanking wisps, and Ghosts (read: Gastly, widely considered to be the best/only ghost) which are covered by Shadow Sneak (not an ohko however). Pain Split and Will-O-Wisp are what allows it to serve its role as a ghost which can 1v1 Munchlax, which breaks the rock paper scissors of fighting types > munchlax > pursuitable ghosts > fighters (scarf fighting types, mostly Machop and Mankey, are very strong). It rounds out the defensive core of the team (though Chinchou contributes defensively as well) and provides a ton of utility.

Houndour @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 5
EVs: 36 Atk / 36 Def / 200 SpA / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Sucker Punch

Dog is a very powerful special attacker which provides a backup check to pokemon like Houndour and Gastly which outlasted Munchlax, it offers 2 immunities to play around with, and it has very strong stab Sucker Punch which can be quite clutch. It's pretty much just a great all-around ball of power, speed (17 speed is good not great), and defensive utility. I use special Dog because it has a higher SpA stat than Attack and the main reason to run physical Dog (Munchlax) is already chunked fairly hard by Dark Pulse and covered by Duskull. HP Ground is for hitting opposing houndour without losing a stat point. HP Fighting is also a valid choice, you have to lower its ivs so it loses a stat in attack or defense but it hits Munchlax harder than Dark Pulse. Timid is used despite investing in attack because Dog doesn't want to lower its defenses since its resists are quite valuable for tanking Dark Pulses and weaker Priority.

Chinchou @ Oran Berry
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 5
EVs: 52 Def / 232 SpA / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
- Agility
- Hydro Pump / Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam / Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ground] / HP Grass / Thunderbolt

Agilichou is used on this team because it hits really hard while providing useful resistances and being bulky thanks to Oran Berry. It always has a hole in its coverage (no Hidden Power can't hit Chinchou, no Ice Beam can't hit Dratini/Grasses though Grass types aren't that common, no Thunderbolt can't hit Mantyke and lacks reliable stab, no Hydro Pump can't really damage Munchlax switch-ins and has some pretty significant issues besides that, no Agility means it just gets revenge killed, and all of them can't really touch Snover) but playing around that can be very difficult and punishing for the opponent. I usually ditch Thunderbolt as HP Ground covers Croagunk which is one of the main mons you'd want to not Hydro Pump or Ice Beam, but by running Thunderbolt you can just wipe out opposing rain teams. HP Grass is something of a middle ground option which hits Chinchou and other waters. It's really a team dependant choice that can be changed up without losing much effectiveness.

Gligar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Veil
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail
- Night Slash
- Stone Edge

Jolly Scarf Gligar gives the team some nice resists, good damage output, and provides an out against scary stuff lategame like Scarf Gastly, Elekid, Aron, DD Dratini, no Aqua Tail RP Gligar, Modest +2 Mantyke (speed tie), basically a ton of things that can be a huge issue. Like Munchlax its moveset is pretty customizable, with Aerial Ace for a harder hit on fighting types, U-Turn for utility, or Brick Break to hit Munchlax as hard as EQ while hitting Bronzor and breaking screens, though this team wants every move it has.

importable

Machop @ Oran Berry
Ability: No Guard
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 116 Def / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dynamic Punch
- Ice Punch
- Payback
- Protect

Munchlax @ Oran Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
Level: 5
Happiness: 0
EVs: 236 Atk / 196 Def / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Ice Punch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake

Duskull @ Oran Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
Happiness: 0
EVs: 196 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Houndour @ Life Orb
Ability: Early Bird
Level: 5
EVs: 36 Atk / 36 Def / 200 SpA / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Sucker Punch

Chinchou @ Oran Berry
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 5
EVs: 52 Def / 232 SpA / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
- Agility
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Gligar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Veil
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail
- Night Slash
- Stone Edge

That's the team, it's served me well and hopefully posting it inspires more people to pick up this great tier!

I'm not going to do shoutouts for my 2k because I'm lazy and I don't want to forget people (there's a lot), if you want a personal shoutout pm me. With that said, I love team US East and I can't wait for wcop and San Fran. You guys already know it but whatever.

Awoo!

 

[Bughouse]

Solid team. Machop lead is Machop lead. Your defensive/balance core of Chinchou, Gligar, Munchlax, and Duskull can handle just about any mon. Houndour is a good cleaner/revenger.

Interesting Duskull, cuz yeah I only ever see it with Ice Beam but Frustration seems good enough to be more generally useful. There's really nothing I'd suggest you don't already have in slashes, but I figured I'd at least comment on a weakness of this team.

Carvanha (especially Jolly, that is): Heysup didn't really use it well in that replay. But it's a big threat to you. Machop lead will be dead before it comes out. It obviously beats Duskull and Houndour. Also these:
196 Atk Life Orb Carvanha Crunch vs. 0 HP / 52 Def Chinchou: 18-22 (75 - 91.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock - this is a speed tie. Your timid chinchou at least beats the more common adamant carvanha
196 Atk Life Orb Carvanha Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gligar: 14-18 (60.8 - 78.2%)
So Jolly Carvanha really forces you to have a healthy Munchlax, which is hard when it's your only Gastly switchin.

This means that you can't really afford to switch Munchlax directly into Gastly, because it leaves you too open to Carvanha. That's not tooooo bad. You can let Gastly kill whatever it came in on, then Pursuit trap and still be healthy enough to take on Carvanha (if you do some EV tweaking).

Another option is to try out Stunky or maybe even Magby over Houndour, which offer you better protection against Carvanha while still doing most of what you wanted Houndour to do, other than being a really good switchin to other Houndour.

 

[Nails]

Solid team. Machop lead is Machop lead. Your defensive/balance core of Chinchou, Gligar, Munchlax, and Duskull can handle just about any mon. Houndour is a good cleaner/revenger.

Interesting Duskull, cuz yeah I only ever see it with Ice Beam but Frustration seems good enough to be more generally useful. There's really nothing I'd suggest you don't already have in slashes, but I figured I'd at least comment on a weakness of this team.

Carvanha (especially Jolly, that is): Heysup didn't really use it well in that replay. But it's a big threat to you. Machop lead will be dead before it comes out. It obviously beats Duskull and Houndour. Also these:
196 Atk Life Orb Carvanha Crunch vs. 0 HP / 52 Def Chinchou: 18-22 (75 - 91.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock - this is a speed tie. Your timid chinchou at least beats the more common adamant carvanha
196 Atk Life Orb Carvanha Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gligar: 14-18 (60.8 - 78.2%)
So Jolly Carvanha really forces you to have a healthy Munchlax, which is hard when it's your only Gastly switchin.

This means that you can't really afford to switch Munchlax directly into Gastly, because it leaves you too open to Carvanha. That's not tooooo bad. You can let Gastly kill whatever it came in on, then Pursuit trap and still be healthy enough to take on Carvanha (if you do some EV tweaking).

Another option is to try out Stunky or maybe even Magby over Houndour, which offer you better protection against Carvanha while still doing most of what you wanted Houndour to do, other than being a really good switchin to other Houndour.

houndour has at worst a speed tie's chance of getting a sucker punch off onto enemy vanha which does

36- Atk Life Orb Houndour Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 36 Def Carvanha: 6-8 (31.5 - 42.1%)

so depending on what it switched in on it'll be in revenge range from chinchou or gligar stone edge (locking into eq lategame is almost never a great idea). or as is more common, i'll get my ass played and sucker punch will pop vanha's sub. machop doesn't really deal with vanha given that zhb is an ohko, but houndour's psychic immunity and dark resist make it an effective pivot into vanha which let me get chinchou in on an aqua jet and chunk it. you're right though, vanha forces me to make a lot of sketchy plays or save most of a pkmn's hp to beat it, but it doesn't actually beat too much straight up.