Lickitung (Gen 4, LC Analysis)'

[Seven Deadly Sins]

I did the DP version of this one, and I'm gonna do the Platinum version too, dammit.

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/lickitung

[SET]
name: Bulky Mixed Attacker
move 1: Return / Body Slam
move 2: Hammer Arm
move 3: Fire Blast
move 4: Ice Beam
item: Oran Berry
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Brave
evs: 156 Atk / 156 Def / 36 SpA / 156 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Lickitung is largely overshadowed by the more popular and more effective Munchlax, but Lickitung has a couple advantages that Munchlax can't boast. The most important one is the significantly better Special Attack, which allows Lickitung to break through the defenses of many Little Cup Pokemon and secure many KOs against opposing defenders such as Bronzor, Munchlax, Gligar, and others.</p>

<p>Return is basic STAB, and provides reliable power off of Lickitung's 15 Attack. However, Body Slam comes with a 30% chance of Paralysis, which can allow Lickitung to follow up with one of its other attacks should an opposing Pokemon switch in. Hammer Arm hits Rock and Steel-types, as well as providing power against Munchlax at the cost of Lickitung's already terrible speed. Meanwhile, on the special side, Lickitung can assault opponents with Fire Blast and Ice Beam. Fire Blast hits Bronzor hard, while Ice Beam hits Gligar and other Ground-types such as Hippopotas, Rhyhorn, and Geodude. Any one of the moves above can be substituted for Shadow Ball, which can be used to ward off Misdreavus and other ghosts aiming to avoid Lickitung's powerful STAB Return.</p>

<p>Oran Berry is used to provide more bulk for Lickitung to take hits, but if this set is used with Trick Room support, a Life Orb can be used to boost Lickitung's offenses. In that case, feel free to drop some of the defensive EVs into Lickitung's offenses in order to boost its power.</p>

<p>Lickitung is very similar to Munchlax in many ways, and its favored teammates are one of those ways. Considering Lickitung's power, the best way to dispatch it is with a powerful Fighting-type move, so great teammates for Lickitung should optimally resist or be immune to Fighting. Ghost-types such as Gastly and Misdreavus immediately come to mind, as they not only make solid switches for Lickitung, but also appreciate its wall-breaking abilities. Psychic-types such as Exeggcute and Slowpoke also provide a useful resistance, and in addition to the Fighting resist, they can provide Trick Room support to allow Lickitung to put holes into opposing teams with ease. Finally, Poison-types such as Koffing and Grimer provide this important resistance, and can also appreciate Lickitung's removal of opposing defenders.</p>

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Return / Body Slam
move 3: Power Whip
move 4: Fire Punch / Hammer Arm
item: Oran Berry
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Brave
evs: 116 HP / 236 Atk / 76 Def / 76 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Here's something that Lickilicky can do that Munchlax can't- Swords Dance boosts Lickilicky's Attack to an impressive 32, allowing it to knock its way through teams with relative ease. Return is the obvious choice for STAB, as it provides the most power that Lickitung can pack. Body Slam is still viable, especially considering that it can spread paralysis early before sweeping later. Power Whip is a great move on Lickitung, as it provides impressive coverage alongside Return, hitting Water-types such as Slowpoke and Rock-types such as Rhyhorn for super effective damage. Fire Punch is the best final move, as it hits Gastly and Drifloon neutral, something that the rest of this set has issues with, as well as dealing extra damage to Bronzor. However, Hammer Arm is Lickitung's best answer to Rock/Steel types that would sport a neutrality to the rest of Lickitung's moveset.</p>

<p>Even more than the first set, Lickitung loves Trick Room support. In this aspect, it is rather fortuitous that most Trick Room users resist Lickitung's only weakness, because it makes it easy to bring it in on a neutral attack with its bulk. There's a wide range to choose from, including Bronzor, Exeggcute, Duskull, and Baltoy. However, there is another route that can be taken. With Paralysis support, Lickitung can also sweep teams. Slowpoke is the most reliable way to spread Paralysis, as its 90/65 defense and access to Thunder Wave let it do so with ease. Ekans can also be an interesting ally, as it resists Fighting, has Intimidate for switching in with ease, and can Glare to hit Ground-types such as Gligar with Paralysis.</p>

[SET]
name: Supporting Wall
move 1: Wish
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Shadow Ball / Fire Blast
move 4: Protect
item: Oran Berry
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Relaxed
evs: 116 HP / 156 Def / 236 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Lickitung is largely outclassed as a wall by Munchlax, but it does have some significant merits. The first is Wish, a move with little availability in Little Cup. Lickitung is the best user of Wish in Little Cup, as it has a solid typing for defense and a stat spread that can take advantage of it. Wish is the obvious first slot, as without it, Lickitung is just an inferior Munchlax. Next, Body Slam is used to provide STAB and the possibility of Paralysis, adding even more team support. Shadow Ball is used to ward off Ghost-types, and can also be used to chip away at Bronzor or Rock-types that would resist its Body Slam. Finally, Protect is used to scout, provide Wish recovery time, and to simply stall.</p>

<p>Lickitung with this set is used as more of a defensive core than the previous sets, and as such, good teammates for it are Pokemon that can guard against its only weakness while benefiting from Wish. Bronzor makes a great teammate for this Lickitung, as it has sturdy defenses, a great typing, and laments its lack of reliable healing. Duskull sports a fighting immunity, and like Bronzor, appreciates Lickitung providing Wish support. Really, anything that can take a Fighting attack and appreciates Wish support makes a great ally for Lickitung.</p>

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Wring Out
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Shadow Ball / Thunderbolt
move 4: Fire Blast
item: Oran Berry / Choice Specs
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Modest
evs: 156 Def / 196 SpA / 156 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Lickitung's real claim to fame is its phenomenal special movepool combined with solid 60 Special Attack. This set looks to abuse this as much as possible. Wring Out is an interesting attack, as it deals damage dependent on your opponent's maximum HP. Against a full HP opponent, Wring Out packs an excellent 110 Base Power before STAB, which dents most non-resistant Pokemon hard. Ice Beam makes an excellent secondary attack, nailing the Rock/Ground Pokemon that resist Wring Out hard, as well as pounding the ever-popular Gligar. Thunderbolt is useful for hitting Mantyke, Omanyte, and Kabutops, but Shadow Ball is reliable power against Gastly and Misdreavus. Finally, Fire Blast is Lickitung's strongest non-STAB physical attack, and hits Bronzor as well as some Grass-types.</p>

<p>Since this is a Lickitung more focused on special attacks, having supporters that are capable of taking down Munchlax are extremely useful. All fighting-types can put huge holes in opposing Munchlax, so choosing Machop, Mankey, or Croagunk can allow you to ward away the lump of fat. Bronzor can also be useful, as it can switch into most anything that Munchlax can use to attack, set up a Reflect, and then stall it out. Again, a fighting resistance and paralysis support works well, and all of the previous supporting options are valid.</p>

[Team Options]

<p>Lickitung needs two main things to be effective against most teams- a fighting resist and a source of paralysis. Slowpoke makes the best partner for Lickitung, as its Psychic typing gives it a useful resistance to Fighting, and it can paralyze opponents with Thunder Wave, turning them into bait for Lickitung despite its middling speed. Ekans does the same, except with a poison typing and the less accurate Glare, which has the ability to paralyze Ground-types, but misses against Ghost-types. Ghosts such as Misdreavus and Gastly can also pair well with Lickitung, as they appreciate the openings in the opposing team that Lickitung can provide with its power and coverage, as well as the lure of Fighting-type moves giving them free switch ins.<p/>

<p>offensive team members go here</p>

[Other Options]

[EVs]

[Opinion]

[Counters]

 

[Zoro]

Earthquake, on the other hand, can hit certain opponents harder, such as Houndour.

I dont get this one.. Houndour is Dark/Fire, so he gets hit for SE damage by both Hammer Arm and Earthquake; both have 100 BP, so I dont understand how Earthquake would hit Houndour harder.. I dont know that much about LC but is Houndour even surviving a Return.. its got crappy defences, but since ima not sure, i dun want to make prejudices.

I'd just change Houndour to sth else.

 

[Elevator Music]

Without SR its got decent chances of surviving Return (but yeah with SR its still a guaranteed OHKO against 76 HP Houndour so =s).

Considering that pretty much none of the sets bar the special attacker have any means to hurt Misdreavus, and to a lesser extent other Ghost-types, maybe bringing up something to hurt Ghost-types like Stunky or I don't know in team options would be appropriate.

 

[Knut LB]

. Earthquake, on the other hand, can hit certain opponents harder, such as Houndour.

Replace Houndour with Ponyta.

 

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Without SR its got decent chances of surviving Return (but yeah with SR its still a guaranteed OHKO against 76 HP Houndour so =s).

Considering that pretty much none of the sets bar the special attacker have any means to hurt Misdreavus, and to a lesser extent other Ghost-types, maybe bringing up something to hurt Ghost-types like Stunky or I don't know in team options would be appropriate.

Any one of the moves above can be substituted for Shadow Ball, which can be used to ward off Misdreavus and other ghosts aiming to avoid Lickitung's powerful STAB Return.

Already got it covered.

Also, I'm just removing Earthquake altogether, as Hammer Arm is better in all situations.

 

[Xia]

at the cost of Lickitung's already terrible Speed

which can be used to ward off Misdreavus and other Ghosts

Nice write up besides those two things. =]

 

[Deck Knight]

<p>Even more than the first set, Lickitung loves Trick Room support. In this aspect, it is rather fortuitous that most Trick Room users resist Lickitung's only weakness, because it makes it easy to bring it in on a neutral attack with its bulk. There's a wide range to choose from, including Bronzor, Exeggcute, Duskull, and Baltoy. However, there is another route that can be taken. With Paralysis support, Lickitung can also sweep teams. Slowpoke is the most reliable way to spread Paralysis, as its 90/75 defense and access to Thunder Wave let it do so with ease. Ekans can also be an interesting ally, as it resists Fighting, has Intimidate for switching in with ease, and can Glare to hit Ground-types such as Gligar with Paralysis.</p>

Lickitung has 90/75/75 Defenses.

 

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Read the rest of that sentence again.

 

[Heysup]

<p>Lickitung is largely outclassed as a wall by Munchlax, but it does have some significant merits. The first is Wish, a move with little availabilityin Little Cup. Lickitung is the best user of Wish in Little Cup, as it has a solid typing for defense and a stat spread that can take advantage of it. Wish is the obvious first slot, as without it, Lickitung is just an inferior Munchlax. Next, Body Slam is used to provide STAB and the possibility of Paralysis, adding even more team support. Shadow Ball is used to ward off Ghost-types, and can also be used to chip away at Bronzor or Rock-types that would resist its Body Slam. Finally, Protect is used to scout, provide Wish recovery time, and to simply stall.</p>

I don't really like how that sounds/flows (I'm not one to talk, but..). Too be honest, I think the 3rd "Wish sentence" should be removed, and possibly change the first two, so you can make the sentences look like this:

Firstly Lickitung has the move Wish, a very uncommon move in Little Cup, and its main advantage over Munchlax. Lickitung is also the best user of Wish in Little Cup, as it has a solid typing for defense and a stat spread that can take advantage of it.

(Pretty much removed the third sentence, added "Also" in the second, and slightly changed the first).

Just IMO anyway.

 

[eric the espeon]

secure many KOs against opposing defenders such as Bronzor, Munchlax, Gligar, and others.

Would be better with some calcs, or at least not leading people to think that it can 1KO Bronzor or Munchlax. 236/36 Oran Munchlax is only 2KOd ~31% of the time, and even min/min is never 1KOed. Standard Oran Bronzor has a small (4%) chance to avoid the 3KO, not taking Fire Blast's shaky accuracy or the probability of Light Screen into effect. Gligar is hit by a clean 1KO, though some crazy max/max varient does have a decent chance to survive.

Basically, slightly reword to make it clear that you don't mean 1KOs.

Here's something that Lickilicky can do that Munchlax can't- Swords Dance boosts Lickilicky's Attack, to an impressive 32, allowing it to knock its way through teams with relative ease.

Also, I'm really not keen on the "knock its way through teams with relative ease." part, yes it has quite a bit of raw power but its horrible speed, total lack of priority and poor STAB type (yay free switches for all Ghosts! yay easy Bronzor switches!) mean that it will almost never "knock through teams". More at best it will get in, SD up and maybe get a KO or two if you force a switch. At worst they bring in Machop or something as you SD, and you've either lost a Pokemon or the momentum.

Return is the obvious choice for STAB, as it provides the most power that Lickitung can pack.

Not true, Double-Edge is stronger.

as well as dealing extra damage to Bronzor.

"some damage" would be better. A unboosted Return deals enough damage to 5-7KO Oran Bronzor >__>. And add the fact that a majority of Bronzor have reflect and... yea. Bronzor is stopping this set cold without FP, and is only slightly hindered by it.

However, Hammer Arm is Lickitung's best answer to Rock/Steel types that would sport a neutrality to the rest of Lickitung's moveset.

"have a 4x resistence to Normal and are neutral to Lickitung's other coverage moves."

easy to bring it in on a neutral attack with its bulk.

Add in "weak". Licky can take an odd hit, but its not going to like a neutral STAB attack coming from almost anything.

With Paralysis support, Lickitung can also sweep teams.

I really think you're hyping here, mention that para support helps with licky's horrible speed, but... yea. Paralising a team is not easy at all in LC

Lickitung is the best user of Wish in Little Cup,

Its not the best. You can't directly say its better than, say, WishEggy, who has a arguably much better type and a far wider support movepool (Sleep Powder, Explosion, TR, ect..).

Wish is the obvious first slot, as without it, Lickitung is just an inferior Munchlax.

1. Differentiation is not a reason to use a move, say why its helpful.
2. Licky has significantly better physical defensive ability, 432 against 384. 3. It also has Shadow Ball and a higher SpA to use Fire Blast from.

or Rock-types that would resist its Body Slam.

Remove "would". They still resist Body Slam even if you're not using it.

, and to simply stall.

", and stall for time against a variety of opponents, for example Rain abusers and Fake Out users." is more informative.

I think this set should have something talking about how to use it, and how it functions (especially compared to Munchy). Really all it is now is a list of moves with a sentence about each+team options.

Special Attacker could do with a few examples of its power, yes it hits rock/grounds hard, but how hard? 1KO? 2KO? Also you use "hard" in two sentences following each other and it sounds awkward.

Kabuto>Kabutops.

And again, I'd like much more explanation as to how it plays.

That's most of it for the parts that are done.

 

[Brambane]

I'm not sure if they are main set worthy, but it does get Surf and Muddy Water, which provide perfect coverage with Return. Also, Refresh could be used to remove status like Burn, allowing Lickitung to act as a pseudo-Status Absrober. It also gets Curse, which could work very well in Trick Room or as a Tanking set. It's a shame Curse and Wish is illegal though...

 

[Bologo]

Against a full HP opponent, Wring Out packs an excellent 110 Base Power before STAB, which dents most non-resistant Pokemon hard.

Doesn't Wring Out always have 121 base power before STAB on a full health opponent, regardless of level? I'm not sure if the formula onsite for Wring Out is wrong, or this is wrong since I know certain things are different at lower levels.

 

[Seven Deadly Sins]

@Bologo

Thanks, I'll update it.

@Dracoyoshi8

Surf is useless, this was debated on LCF and decided.


On-topic:
There's a new bulky set that I'll be writing up, so there will be major changes here.