SM LC Spoopy - Ghost Spam

[Xayah]

Introduction​

Hey, my name is Xayah, though many may know as better under my previous name, AD Thunderboy. I haven't made an RMT in a while, and the ones I did make... weren't very good. So now, it's time to redeem myself! This team was made for my match in LCPL Week 1 against Eternal Spirit, and was thus not made without help, as my team The Belchsprouts were always there to offer advice. Nonetheless, this team is most certainly my own, and I'm quite happy with how it turned out. So now, turn up the music, and check out the team!

Teambuilding Process​

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I pretty much immediately knew I wanted to build around Pumpkaboo-Small for a couple of reasons. First off, I actually have quite a bit of experience using it thanks to drafting it in the MDL tournament. Second off, ES was unlikely to expect it due to it being uncommon in general and there barely being any records of me using it. Third off, it's actually quite a powerful sweeper if it gets set up due to its practically unresisted coverage. I was actually debating using a physical version, but the lack of strong Ghost STAB made me not do it.

Pumpkaboo-Small's biggest issue is that it has a couple of specific very reliable answers that are by no means uncommon, like Vullaby, Alolan Grimer, and to some extent Pawniard. In order to pressure these super heavily, I decided to add in a Sub WoW Gastly, which would be able to lure in and significantly cripple each of these, thus opening the way for a Pumpkaboo sweep.

With two Ghosts already on the team, I really needed something else to take care of things like Pawniard and Alolan Grimer. In comes Diglett. Thanks to Life Orb, it will easily be able to trap and KO Alolan Grimer, while Substitute gives it the ability to semi-reliably trap Pawniard and thus was essential for the Ghost spam squad.

At this point in time, my team got completely ran over by any Scarf Flying-type. As such, I brought in Weak Armor Onix to deal with them. It is by far the most reliable bird check in the metagame and a near necessity for a team like this.

Fighting-types are always good and especially on this team it gave me a solid check to Pawniard and other Dark-types, which was incredibly important. I decided on Mienfoo over Timburr or Croagunk for its access to a slow U-turn, thus allowing me to safely bring in Pumpkaboo and Diglett.

And then I was in trouble. While I had an easy time picking out the first five mons, my last slot simply needed to do too much. At this point in time, I lacked hazard control, a Fighting check, a form of speed control other than Diglett, and I wanted an extra item remover. While Scarf Vullaby was my original option, I did not like it whatsoever since it meant that I had precisely 0 switch-ins to any strong Fighting-type. As such, I decided to change up my team significantly in this last step. Gastly became a Choice Scarf set as opposed to the Sub WoW one in order to give me some speed control in exchange for the ability to cripple Darks, Onix became a Kabuto to give me hazard removal and Knock Off in exchange for reliability in checking birds, and the last slot became a Snubbull to check Fighting-types reliably and remove items with Thief.

The Team​

Pumpkaboo-Small @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 4 HP / 36 Def / 164 SpA / 156 SpD / 148 Spe
Modest Nature
- Trick-or-Treat
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
​

Pumpkaboo-Small is the sweeper for the team. It was the starting point and the enitre team works to support it. After using Z-Trick-or-Treat, all of its stats raise by one, giving it a good opportunity to sweep. In addition, it adds a Ghost-type to its opponents, thus giving them a weakness to one of its STABs, which is actually a really neat often overlooked side effect. Shadow Ball is the most powerful move on the set and capitalizes on this effect, and the other two moves provide incredible neutral coverage. Don't forget that Ghostium Z can also be used with Shadow Ball if you just need a nuke for whatever reason! I actually did forget this in my game and it cost me.

Gastly @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 200 SpA / 80 SpD / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
​

Gastly is on the team to wear down Pumpkaboo-Small's counters, as they generally lack recovery and thus will be unable to take on both Ghosts throughout the game. Moves are obvious: Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb are STAB, Thunderbolt hits Vullaby, and HP Fighting nails Pawniard on the switch. One thing that is kinda sad is that this set is unable to significantly dent Alolan Grimer, but I have a Diglett on the team and since that completely lacks recovery, it's not too big of an issue. This Gastly is also my main revenge killer, as its blazing Speed means it even outpaces some +2 Pokemon like non-Jolly Shellder, Modest Omanyte, and Clamperl.

Diglett @ Life Orb
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Memento
- Substitute
- Rock Slide
​

Despite Diglett being seemingly one-dimensional, it is very important for the team for multiple reasons. To start, it is by far my best of dealing with Alolan Grimer, as it is able to easily trap and KO it. Next, it is capable of trapping non-Scarf Pawniard by using Substitute on a predicted Sucker Punch. Additionally, it is capable of threatening non-Scarf Flying-types to some extent thanks to Rock Slide, and lastly, it gives Pumpkaboo a good set up opportunity with Memento. This Pokemon is 100% necessary for the team and has been instrumental in nearly all victories I got with the squad.

Kabuto @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 116 HP / 36 Atk / 36 Def / 156 SpD / 156 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
​

Kabuto is the only Pokemon in the metagame that could compress all roles I needed into one slot. It is a Flying check, Fire check, hazard setter, hazard remover, Knock Off user, and priority user. All of these roles were incredibly important to the team and thus Kabuto takes this slot. It might not be the most reliable Flying check in the world, but it'll have to do. It's possible to go Rock Slide > Knock Off as well to hit birds better, but I didn't want to rely on Mienfoo to remove items entirely (Thief on Evio Snubbull doesn't even really count).

Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 76 Atk / 196 Def / 196 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Fake Out
​

I wanted a bulky Fighting-type to try and keep some Dark-types in check, and SlowFoo was my decision. It is capable of easily stopping Pawniard and can absorb Knock Off to some extent, though it cannot prevent Vullaby from putting a number on my team. The slow U-turn it provides is instrumental in bringing in Diglett and Pumpkaboo safely, while Fake Out is very useful in revenging Weak Armor Vullaby, especially in combination with Aqua Jet Kabuto.

Snubbull @ Eviolite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 36 HP / 116 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Play Rough
- Earthquake
- Thief
​

Snubbull was needed for this team as a solid Fighting check and a way of kinda sorta dealing with Vullaby. On paper this and Kabuto together should be able to deal with it, which is what it is here for. I went with the Eviolite set to absorb Knock Off slightly better, and that actually came up huge in the LCPL game (screw you Abra). Thunder Wave gives me another form of Speed control, Play Rough is STAB, Earthquake hits Alolan Grimer, which is the reason it was picked over Fire Punch, and Thief allows Snubbull to function as a solid Knock Off absorber.

Threat List​

Dark-types
Despite my best efforts, Dark-types are still a significant issue for this team, which makes sense for Ghost spam. Especially Vullaby is an enormous threat, as it does not get checked by Mienfoo or trapped by Diglett, meaning my only counterplay is hoping I can somehow beat it with Snubbull and Kabuto, which is a significant issue. A well played Alolan Grimer can also easily come into and KO Gastly or Pumpkaboo, though it will generally get revenged by Diglett. Lastly, Pawniard is the least of my worries when it comes to Dark-types, but if Mienfoo goes down for whatever reason and it wins the mindgames with Diglett's Substitute it is a very big issue.

Sticky Web
Obviously, Sticky Web is a huge threat to most teams right now, but this especially does not like facing it due to Kabuto being the only form of hazard removal and Scarf Gastly being the only Pokemon immune to webs. Life Orb Abra is also capable destroying all Pokemon on my team in one hit, making it very scary, though it can be revenged by Diglett if webs aren't up or Gastly in any situation.

Flying-types
With Kabuto being my only Flying check, powerful ones like Vullaby, Doduo, and Rufflet can potentially run all over my team. The latter two especially can easily break through Kabuto with a good prediction, which will put my team on the back foot significantly. There is counterplay for these though, since Mienfoo's Fake Out will weaken them significantly, they are generally locked into a move which one of my Pokemon does not mind taking, and Choice Scarf Gastly either outspeeds or ties with them and can take them out with Thunderbolt.

Conclusion​

In general, the team is quite solid if I do say so myself. While it has a bad matchup against the common Vullaby, a well played version of this team should be able to take on almost anything else. Ghost spam is also mostly unprepared for in this metagame, meaning you might just catch an opponent off guard. Similarly, Pumpkaboo-Small is really slept on at the moment, even though it is a huge threat after setting up with very few things outside of Dark-types preventing a sweep, and setting it up doesn't have to be difficult if you get a Memento into it. Thank you all for reading and now go tear it to shreds!

Importable

Pumpkaboo-Small @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Frisk
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 36 Def / 164 SpA / 156 SpD / 148 Spe
Modest Nature
- Trick-or-Treat
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain

Gastly @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 200 SpA / 80 SpD / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

Diglett @ Life Orb
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Memento
- Substitute
- Rock Slide

Kabuto @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 36 Atk / 36 Def / 156 SpD / 156 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet

Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 76 Atk / 196 Def / 196 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Fake Out

Snubbull @ Eviolite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 116 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Play Rough
- Earthquake
- Thief

Shoutouts​

The BestSprouts:
Corporal Levi Jox Serene's Grace Star Kingler12345
Thank you all so much for the help with this team, I appreciate it greatly

Other Sprouts:
TheFenderStory Holiday Arifeen tazz Kaboom Confide
Let's go guys! We will win this tournament

Other Friends:
Rakan Sam-testings TUO OP Hilomilo MeButYou82 Plasmagby therealslap ItzViper482 Fille Nineage Fiend Drew Elec. Altariel von Sweep fleurdyleurse talkingtree Gummysaur
Also wanted to tag Nemesis/OneWord/Enemmy/Noibat (that's one person) but couldn't find your account D: EDIT: It's NemesisNoibat!
You guys are all great thanks for being there!