RIP Missy - franky     
IntroductionI'm retiring this team since Misdreavus left the LC tier, and I'm curious to know what will replace my beloved Ghost. Anyways, this team is dedicated to Misdreavus, whom I felt was OU in the LC tier. This team revolves around maintaining a good offensive pressure while having good defense all around. In other words, I play this team like a stall team but I am still able to keep an offensive momentum going. Like the title says, I have peaked this team in the #1 spot with a rating of 1600~ at best. The names of the Pokemon are sort of relevant to the LC users, but I don't want to explain in depth. The Team
Machop @ Oran Berry At the time I built this team, bulky leads were extremely popular so I decided to run Machop. Machop starts my team with an immediate bang since it is capable of denting many physical walls early in the match, namely Phanphy and Hippopotas. This set forms an excellent combo with Gligar since Machop can dent bulky leads early, allowing Gligar to sweep sufficiently easier. DynamicPunch makes a fantastic opening move by distributing confusion on the slower opponent. From there, the opponent has a fare amount of difficulty of doing anything. Payback makes a fantastic move for predicting Ghost-types on the switch in. Thanks to the given EV spread, Machop has an extremely high chance of winning against Gastly and Misdreavus (lacking Will-O-Wisp) at mind condition. Bullet Punch destroys Focus Sash leads. It also makes a great mid-game priority move. Although they are rare at the moment, Protect deals with Fake Out leads. In addition to that, Protect lets me scout for Choice leads, namely Gligar.
Snover @ Life Orb Snover is perfect example of someone who embodies my team synergy: maintaining a good offensive pressure while being defensive at the same time. While it may sound unusual to place Snover outside the lead slot, this Snover makes a great mid-game transition Pokemon. Snover is capable of playing two roles: defensive and offensive. Snover checks the omnipresent Water-types in the LC tier if Munchlax is removed from the match. Furthermore, Snover is capable of dealing with almost any Gligar set, making it a fantastic counter to one of the best Pokemon in the tier. Although these are all extremely good points, Snover's true purpose in the team is to shut down weather-based teams. Although this set looks obnoxious, it is still pretty effective. Blizzard on a Swords Dance team helps me bait in special walls, namely Munchlax. Bizzard followed up by Wood Hammer is a OHKO almost most of the time. This comes in handy since this allows Porygon and Misdreavus sweep sufficiently easier. Swords Dance makes an excellent move for boosting Snover's attack stat. Wood Hammer over Seed Bomb means that Houndour will not come in easily to absorb my STAB moves. Wood Hammer is more important since it can OHKO some Munchlax and Mantyke. Ice Shard provides an extra priority move and it ensures Gligar is limited to setting up anything the entire match.
Porygon @ Choice Scarf Porygon is an interesting Pokemon paired with Snover since it helps Porygon spam full-accuracy Blizzards. This is a simple strategy that I wanted to abuse on my team when I first built it. Besides spamming Blizzard, Porygon is actually my mandatory Scarfer to my team. With the Normal-typing, Porygon makes a fantastic check to any Ghost-types, namely Misdreavus. The art of free switching has to click here since I usually lure in Misdreavus' Shadow Ball, allowing me to freely come in and revenge it with Shadow Ball or Blizzard if its HP is reduced. Last but not least, Porygon actually makes a pretty good back-up check to Adamant Dratini if it ever got a single Dragon Dance in. Due to legality issues, this Porygon lacks Tri Attack therefore I have to use the best possible coverage to hit stuff super effectively. Blizzard is my main move if Snover's hail is in play. Shadow Ball effectively disposes of Misdreavus if its HP is reduced. Thunderbolt forms the boltbeam coverage, allowing me to hit bulky waters hard. Hidden Power Ground rounds off my coverage by hitting Chinchou. If Munchlax is down, Porygon is my safety blanket for it.
Misdreavus @ Oran Berry Rest in Peace Misdreavus. Its no surprise that a Pokemon with over 70% usage gets a place on my team, I mean how could you not have Misdreavus in your team? This forms a sweet Normal-Ghost-Normal combo with Munchlax and Porygon. This allows me to utilize free switches by luring in Ghost-types. With Ghost-types removed, Misdreavus can sweep easier without having opposing SneakMissy's or Scarf Gastly ruining its parade. I chose to run a more defensive Misdreavus after looking at E_M's thread. I decided to run it and its been working fantastically. I figured it would fit on my team since my synergy perfectly fits this type of Misdreavus. This type of set is designed to win over Munchlax most of the time, provided that Will-O-Wisp doesn't miss. Will-O-Wisp is probably a staple on many teams as it can distribute a possible burn on Stunky and Munchlax switching in. Asides from that, Will-O-Wisp helps add more residual damage in conjunction with Hail. This allows me sweepers to finish more Pokemon at lower health. Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting provide the best possible coverage. I neglected to run Hidden Power Ground since hitting Normal-types like Munchlax is more important. Shadow Sneak adds priority to my team and ensures that Gunk will never hit me with Sucker Punch. Even with Timid nature, it still hits quite hard.
Gligar @ Yache Berry Another suspect that avoided the ban bullet, thankfully. Gligar is another Pokemon you must have in your team simply because it adds a much needed physical bulk to your team, as well as having good offensive stats to back it up. Add Gligar's good typing to the mix, we have an incredibly good Pokemon in our hands. I decided to run the Swords Dance set so I could maintain my offensive pressure the entire match; again, this ties to my synergy. For my item, I recently replaced Yache Berry for Oran Berry to effectively lure and deal with stupid physical Elekid. However, special Elekid might be problematic as Hidden Power Ice sometimes OHKOs even with Yache. All in all, it was an excellent change since Oran Berry didn't provide that much help. Swords Dance over Rock Polish so I can actually sweep teams lategame. With Machop severely injuring its checks at the start of the match, this means that Gligar can now sweep easier. Aerical Ace over Stone Edge as provides Gligar with a reliable way to hit Paras and Snover super effectively. A number of players, like myself, like to run Snover to check Gligar. Aerial Ace OHKOs it off that bat. "Stone Edge is the worst move in the game." Earthquake adds a sweet STAB move, while Night Slash deals with Ghost-types, namely Duskull and Misdreavus.
Munchlax @ Oran Berry Another defensive glue next to Snover. Munchlax is one of the most defensive Pokemon in the metagame, even checking physical threats sometimes. Munchlax deals with most of the team's special attacker problems, including Houndour, Toxicroak, Chinchou, Mantyke, Gastly, and Misdreavus, among others. Munchlax is glue to my team, therefore I needed Careful nature over Adamant to ensure I check these special threats the entire match. Return is a powerful STAB move, even for a wall like Munchlax, it will hit anything those who don't resist it hard. Pursuit effectively deals with Abra, Gastly, and Misdreavus lacking Will-O-Wisp. Earthquake OHKOs Chinchou mainly, while Fire Punch allows me to hit Bronzor for super effective damage. I did have Protect at one point, but I replaced Fire Punch to keep my offensive momentum running. Protect would be nice if I have Toxic Spikes or something. Importable |