I hate playing with anything other than stall in Little Cup, mainly because if you use offense, its a total crapshoot and you can't make any offensive team that beats everything. If you want to win the most consistently, stall is the way to go.
But all of that aside, the motivation of this team is from playing PitchBlack and realizing how awesome Solid Rock Tirtouga is. Nothing can break its shell (literally), and it is good for absolutely stalling out teams or taking out key Pokemon to let the rest of the team "sweep". Obviously with Tirtouga, you need a Hippopotas to boost its already decent Special Defense to obscene levels. Hippo also provides easy Stealth Rock, key in any stall team and easy to set up vs Mienfoo. Hippopotas also creates in my opinion the best counter to Gastly, avoiding the 2HKO from Life Orb Shadow Ball, and having a very real chance at OHKOing back with Crunch (you can OHKO 21 HP versions but obviously the chances are better keep going up the less HP Gastly has). I find Gastly loves switching into Hippo, assuming I run Earthquake as my only attack. Hippopotas also creates a good lure for special attackers who want to revenge kill me.
With Stealth Rock you need Spikes, and the best I could think of was Ferroseed, who has plenty of set-up opportunities vs other stall teams or weaker Pokemon. Leech Seed + Bullet Seed gives me a pretty solid answer to last Pokemon Slowpoke, especially with how annoying a Psychic/Scald/Slack Off/Toxic set can be.
As with any stall team, a Ghost-type is needed - and I have experimented with a lot of stuff - even some non-ghost-types. I like Acrofloon but Gastly is the most solid one, as it deals with my problems of Slowpoke and gives me a nice sweeper for end-games.
Drillbur's original role was that of Excas in OU, Swords Dance sweep and Spin - many of his counters such as Gligar and Misdreavus are banned now. Iss told me to switch to Protect to beat Fake Out Pokemon and it works pretty well.
Hippopotas (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 212 HP / 20 Atk / 52 Def / 180 SDef / 20 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Crunch
The best hippo ... Life Orb Gastly doesn't 2hko and Hippo strikes back with Crunch. It gives me a solid answer to Croagunk too. Stealth Rock when applicable, Slack Off is useful for beating things one on one like Mienfoo without Drain Punch. PS he's kind of mandatory for Sand.
Tirtouga (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Solid Rock
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 12 SAtk / 236 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Scald
- Knock Off
- Toxic
- Stone Edge
Probably my favorite Pokemon in LC - Chinchour's Thunderbolt doesn't even 2HKO him in Sand, and he can easily knock off items and toxic threats. He provies me a counter to Fire-types, switching in on Flare Blitz and then surviving the folloiwng Life Orb Wild Charge. He makes a secondary solid Gastly and Abra counter .. Scald breaks their subs and they barely scratch him. One of his main roles is getting in Staryu so he can knock off their items, allowing Drillbur to sweep. He can also bring in Timburr and Knock Off his Eviolite as well.
Gastly (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 116 HP / 196 SAtk / 196 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Destiny Bond
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
Finally picked him as my Ghost...he is pretty basic but does his job well. He is sometimes the only thing stopping Mienfoo from tearing me apart...Destiny Bond is so ridiculously good, it allows you an out vs something like Scrafty since they seem to like switching into me - If I get my sub up, I can start Destiny Bonding every turn until they either kill me or take a lot of damage from Sandstorm and I kill myself ... but would you risk Gastly attacking you with? Also performs as a shitty spin blocker.
Croagunk (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 212 HP / 188 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SDef / 36 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Taunt
- Fake Out
Good Pokemon, helps vs stuff like Gastly and gives me a way to beat Mienfoo. Also my primary Scraggy counter as they have stopped running Zen Headbutt and gone onto Taunt. If they use Zen Headbutt and Drain Punch with Dragon Dance, I probably lose the game.
Ferroseed (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 84 HP / 188 Def / 228 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Bullet Seed
- Spikes
- Protect
- Leech Seed
Very nice, easy set up vs stuff like non HP Fire Lileep, Bronzor, Munchlax, etc. Bullet Seed does 14% to Mienfoo switching in each hit which is a lot of damage. Leech Seed + Protect is excellent, it lets me beat Bronzor 1v1 which happens a lot since he walls Drilbur. It also slowly beats stuff that I can't really Bullet Seed.
Drilbur (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 196 HP / 236 Atk / 8 SDef / 52 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Rock Slide
It is a good Pokemon, really just has maybe one counter in Bronzor and maybe one in Duskull - everything else is really fair game once it gets SD Earthquake going. Protect adds SS, Toxic, LS damage, scouts, and protects me from Fake Out.
Ok so I want to try something new with this RMT, basically instead of a threat list, I'll just show you how to play vs teams step by step.
The first team that you will probably encounter on ladder will be the all offense teams featuring Mienfoo + Scraggy, and then throwing in stuff to balance it out like Gastly, Chinchou, etc. Your main threat here are the two fighting-types because everything else can easily be revenged with Drilbur or beaten one on one. Now if the opponent leads with Mienfoo, thats good for you - you'll find out right away if its Taunt/Drain Punch or Life Orb Fake out. I prefer the latter because Croagunk can still take it out while retaining a lot of health - however, the former is a big problem with Scraggy. Do not try and counter Taunt + Drain Punch Mienfoo with Croagunk if they have a full health Scraggy, what ends up happening is they Knock off your Eviolite and Scraggy comes in to pick up the pieces. Instead, just go Gastly if you need a switch-in because Croagunk >>> Gastly when you are fighting these type of teams. The priority Croagunk brings is very important and he can Drain Punch heal vs a lot of threats such as Chinchou. Once you take out both Mienfoo and Scraggy, it should be a walk in the park - Tirt can Knock Off any bulky Eviolite users or counter random shit like Gastly while Drillbur will end up sweeping at the end. These teams also seem to carry Dwebble a lot .. feel free to lead Hippo and go right to Drilbur, SD as many times as you can and then sweep. Best case scenario - you get +4 because they tried to lay an extra layer as you sded - they switch out as you sd again, and then you Protect vs Fake Out users.
Onto Hail - I lose. Yeah not really much to say here, what you have to actually do is bring in Gastly and just pray they are retarded. When Hail is up, Ferro is taking damage every turn, Tirt takes damage and loses the boost that makes him maybe the best wall period, and Drilbur loses his Speed. A problem with this team is that nothing can switch into Blizzard ... I could add a Magnemite but it would pretty much ruin the synergy I have. If Hail really worries you and you don't really like Tirtouga, then feel free to use Magnemite over him - Mag gives a Blizzard+Giga Drain resist, Flash Cannon, and Thunderbolt for Slowpoke.
Stall is easy, first you both lead Hippos - you both Stealth Rock. Next comes in Lileep which is where you bring in Ferroseed to put up a few layers of Spikes - if you only get 1 because they have HP Fire or something, it's ok ... you only need SR + Spikes to begin your Drilbur sweep. Anyway, maneuver yourself that any bulky defender or Lileep come in on Tirtouge - let them attack as you Knock Off their Eviolite. If they have a Bronzor, just switch to Croagunk and now begin to spam Taunt + Sucker Punch (Gastly is a popular switch so Taunt forces it to attack). Drain Punch when needed. If they have Slowpoke, which many do, then keep Tirt alive is absolutely needed because Knock Off will save your life. Feel free to Taunt + Sucker Punch with Croagunk or Shadow Ball with Gastly to finish it. Should you be unlucky enough to fight Protect Drilbur, feel free to cry. However, it switches into nothing without taking a lot of damage and if you ever switch out of Drilbir with the risk of SD imminent, then you deserve to lose quite honestly.
um thats all i can think of
---
anyway onto to the point ... this ladder is easy and dumb and there was almost no fun playing it for the few days I did and I'll tell you why - Eviolite. Literally every Pokemon on my team runs it. It completely takes away the fun from LC, which I feel could be a lot more fun than it ever was in 4th gen judging from the new Pokemon. If there is anything to take away from this RMT other than the fact that you probably underrated Tirt until I used it vs you, its that LC is in dire need of a playerbase and the solution isn't to keep banning Pokemon, its to ban the item that makes the game as boring as OU but without the fire-power.
This was supposed to be a jump at just besting another metagame and going for archive but honestly, I feel like I should address my real issue with LC and this is the way to do it. And call me an LC hater but the metagame just completely sucks at the moment. This isnt any detailed RMT, its an example of why Eviolite just makes the game unfun - everything carries it and everything takes a hit from each other but keep simply surviving everything.
At the very least, I now may be the only person who can legitimately say "LC sux"
But all of that aside, the motivation of this team is from playing PitchBlack and realizing how awesome Solid Rock Tirtouga is. Nothing can break its shell (literally), and it is good for absolutely stalling out teams or taking out key Pokemon to let the rest of the team "sweep". Obviously with Tirtouga, you need a Hippopotas to boost its already decent Special Defense to obscene levels. Hippo also provides easy Stealth Rock, key in any stall team and easy to set up vs Mienfoo. Hippopotas also creates in my opinion the best counter to Gastly, avoiding the 2HKO from Life Orb Shadow Ball, and having a very real chance at OHKOing back with Crunch (you can OHKO 21 HP versions but obviously the chances are better keep going up the less HP Gastly has). I find Gastly loves switching into Hippo, assuming I run Earthquake as my only attack. Hippopotas also creates a good lure for special attackers who want to revenge kill me.
With Stealth Rock you need Spikes, and the best I could think of was Ferroseed, who has plenty of set-up opportunities vs other stall teams or weaker Pokemon. Leech Seed + Bullet Seed gives me a pretty solid answer to last Pokemon Slowpoke, especially with how annoying a Psychic/Scald/Slack Off/Toxic set can be.
As with any stall team, a Ghost-type is needed - and I have experimented with a lot of stuff - even some non-ghost-types. I like Acrofloon but Gastly is the most solid one, as it deals with my problems of Slowpoke and gives me a nice sweeper for end-games.
Drillbur's original role was that of Excas in OU, Swords Dance sweep and Spin - many of his counters such as Gligar and Misdreavus are banned now. Iss told me to switch to Protect to beat Fake Out Pokemon and it works pretty well.
Hippopotas (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 212 HP / 20 Atk / 52 Def / 180 SDef / 20 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Crunch
The best hippo ... Life Orb Gastly doesn't 2hko and Hippo strikes back with Crunch. It gives me a solid answer to Croagunk too. Stealth Rock when applicable, Slack Off is useful for beating things one on one like Mienfoo without Drain Punch. PS he's kind of mandatory for Sand.
Tirtouga (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Solid Rock
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 12 SAtk / 236 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Scald
- Knock Off
- Toxic
- Stone Edge
Probably my favorite Pokemon in LC - Chinchour's Thunderbolt doesn't even 2HKO him in Sand, and he can easily knock off items and toxic threats. He provies me a counter to Fire-types, switching in on Flare Blitz and then surviving the folloiwng Life Orb Wild Charge. He makes a secondary solid Gastly and Abra counter .. Scald breaks their subs and they barely scratch him. One of his main roles is getting in Staryu so he can knock off their items, allowing Drillbur to sweep. He can also bring in Timburr and Knock Off his Eviolite as well.
Gastly (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 116 HP / 196 SAtk / 196 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Destiny Bond
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
Finally picked him as my Ghost...he is pretty basic but does his job well. He is sometimes the only thing stopping Mienfoo from tearing me apart...Destiny Bond is so ridiculously good, it allows you an out vs something like Scrafty since they seem to like switching into me - If I get my sub up, I can start Destiny Bonding every turn until they either kill me or take a lot of damage from Sandstorm and I kill myself ... but would you risk Gastly attacking you with? Also performs as a shitty spin blocker.
Croagunk (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 212 HP / 188 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SDef / 36 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Taunt
- Fake Out
Good Pokemon, helps vs stuff like Gastly and gives me a way to beat Mienfoo. Also my primary Scraggy counter as they have stopped running Zen Headbutt and gone onto Taunt. If they use Zen Headbutt and Drain Punch with Dragon Dance, I probably lose the game.
Ferroseed (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 84 HP / 188 Def / 228 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Bullet Seed
- Spikes
- Protect
- Leech Seed
Very nice, easy set up vs stuff like non HP Fire Lileep, Bronzor, Munchlax, etc. Bullet Seed does 14% to Mienfoo switching in each hit which is a lot of damage. Leech Seed + Protect is excellent, it lets me beat Bronzor 1v1 which happens a lot since he walls Drilbur. It also slowly beats stuff that I can't really Bullet Seed.
Drilbur (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 196 HP / 236 Atk / 8 SDef / 52 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Rock Slide
It is a good Pokemon, really just has maybe one counter in Bronzor and maybe one in Duskull - everything else is really fair game once it gets SD Earthquake going. Protect adds SS, Toxic, LS damage, scouts, and protects me from Fake Out.
Ok so I want to try something new with this RMT, basically instead of a threat list, I'll just show you how to play vs teams step by step.
The first team that you will probably encounter on ladder will be the all offense teams featuring Mienfoo + Scraggy, and then throwing in stuff to balance it out like Gastly, Chinchou, etc. Your main threat here are the two fighting-types because everything else can easily be revenged with Drilbur or beaten one on one. Now if the opponent leads with Mienfoo, thats good for you - you'll find out right away if its Taunt/Drain Punch or Life Orb Fake out. I prefer the latter because Croagunk can still take it out while retaining a lot of health - however, the former is a big problem with Scraggy. Do not try and counter Taunt + Drain Punch Mienfoo with Croagunk if they have a full health Scraggy, what ends up happening is they Knock off your Eviolite and Scraggy comes in to pick up the pieces. Instead, just go Gastly if you need a switch-in because Croagunk >>> Gastly when you are fighting these type of teams. The priority Croagunk brings is very important and he can Drain Punch heal vs a lot of threats such as Chinchou. Once you take out both Mienfoo and Scraggy, it should be a walk in the park - Tirt can Knock Off any bulky Eviolite users or counter random shit like Gastly while Drillbur will end up sweeping at the end. These teams also seem to carry Dwebble a lot .. feel free to lead Hippo and go right to Drilbur, SD as many times as you can and then sweep. Best case scenario - you get +4 because they tried to lay an extra layer as you sded - they switch out as you sd again, and then you Protect vs Fake Out users.
Onto Hail - I lose. Yeah not really much to say here, what you have to actually do is bring in Gastly and just pray they are retarded. When Hail is up, Ferro is taking damage every turn, Tirt takes damage and loses the boost that makes him maybe the best wall period, and Drilbur loses his Speed. A problem with this team is that nothing can switch into Blizzard ... I could add a Magnemite but it would pretty much ruin the synergy I have. If Hail really worries you and you don't really like Tirtouga, then feel free to use Magnemite over him - Mag gives a Blizzard+Giga Drain resist, Flash Cannon, and Thunderbolt for Slowpoke.
Stall is easy, first you both lead Hippos - you both Stealth Rock. Next comes in Lileep which is where you bring in Ferroseed to put up a few layers of Spikes - if you only get 1 because they have HP Fire or something, it's ok ... you only need SR + Spikes to begin your Drilbur sweep. Anyway, maneuver yourself that any bulky defender or Lileep come in on Tirtouge - let them attack as you Knock Off their Eviolite. If they have a Bronzor, just switch to Croagunk and now begin to spam Taunt + Sucker Punch (Gastly is a popular switch so Taunt forces it to attack). Drain Punch when needed. If they have Slowpoke, which many do, then keep Tirt alive is absolutely needed because Knock Off will save your life. Feel free to Taunt + Sucker Punch with Croagunk or Shadow Ball with Gastly to finish it. Should you be unlucky enough to fight Protect Drilbur, feel free to cry. However, it switches into nothing without taking a lot of damage and if you ever switch out of Drilbir with the risk of SD imminent, then you deserve to lose quite honestly.
um thats all i can think of
---
anyway onto to the point ... this ladder is easy and dumb and there was almost no fun playing it for the few days I did and I'll tell you why - Eviolite. Literally every Pokemon on my team runs it. It completely takes away the fun from LC, which I feel could be a lot more fun than it ever was in 4th gen judging from the new Pokemon. If there is anything to take away from this RMT other than the fact that you probably underrated Tirt until I used it vs you, its that LC is in dire need of a playerbase and the solution isn't to keep banning Pokemon, its to ban the item that makes the game as boring as OU but without the fire-power.
This was supposed to be a jump at just besting another metagame and going for archive but honestly, I feel like I should address my real issue with LC and this is the way to do it. And call me an LC hater but the metagame just completely sucks at the moment. This isnt any detailed RMT, its an example of why Eviolite just makes the game unfun - everything carries it and everything takes a hit from each other but keep simply surviving everything.
At the very least, I now may be the only person who can legitimately say "LC sux"
