The Essence of Ashes
[peaked #1]
At first I would like to present the song, the RMT is named after: The Essence of Ashes - by Elvuveitie. Okay, lean back, listen to this epic song and read the RMT have fun!
Hey guys, this is the RMT of my Little Cup team, which was quite successful on the smogon LC-ladder. For the team's history: In the beginning of March 2012 I started a challenge with my friend Burn or Lohgock.. The aim was to peak top10 in every Wifi-Mode (Wifi Uber, Wifi OU, Wifi UU, Wifi RU, Wifi NU, Wifi LC). After some weaks of doing nothing I decided to start with Little Cup.
At this point I knew absolutely nothing about this mode. I just started to read an article about it and after that I started to build the previous version of this team.
It worked ok, so I went on testing and improving the team in the next two weeks, until I got this final version. From this point to now, there were only very small changes on the team, like changing some attacks or an EV-spread.
I had around 1100 points at this point, but decided to ladder for the Top10 now.
At the 9th of April I peaked in the Top10 the first time, but decided to go on laddering, because I really enjoyed playing Little Cup. It's really a nice mode and a interesting metagame, that is fun to play.
I went on and wanted to peak #1 and I finally succeeded.
Because there aren't a lot of LC tournaments and I won't go on laddering I post this RMT now, to present my team. Have Fun with the Team "The Essence of Ashes" guys!
Here is my peak:
U-turn has another advantage: It forces switches. Switches with hazards on the field are very dangerous in Little Cup because you don’t have Leftovers to recover the damage. That means Pokemon without Recovery will lose more and more health just by me switching in and out until I can pull out a final sweep. Knowing that, I wanted to have 100% save Stealth Rocks. Generally playing a solid core that isn't defensive is a very good strategie for Little Cup, so I planned to play a quite offensive Team. You could call it Bulky Offense.
There are not that much good Stealth Rock Users in Little Cup. An often seen Pokemon with it is Hippowdon, but I wanted to have something more useful, that has not that much weaknesses, because I didn't want to play a defensive core to stop everything. A Pokemon that can lay down Stealth Rocks and can stop a huge part of the metagame is Bronzor, because the only weakness is Fire. So I chose it.
Fighting is one of the most often used types in Little Cup. It's hard to stop, but there is one Pokemon to beat it quite good: Larvesta. Larvesta has a 30% chance to burn any physical Sweeper that attacks it, what is unbelievable valuable. You can stop any U-turn user and potentially stop any setup Sweeper you normally would lose to. It also forms a nice core with Bronzor and Mienfoo so I chose it.
Like I already said, Hazards are quite dangerous in Little Cup. Stealth Rocks can do big damage, but Spikes on a Stallteam can do hilarious damage. So there was one thing clear: I had to play a Spinner. There was nothing big to decide. Tentacool is defensive, Drilbur needs Sandstorm, what also racks up damage, what is not good so there was only Staryu. Staryu is just as good as Starmie in OU, maybe even better. It's very fast and can 2HKO a big part of the metagame. Also every counter is stopped by Larvesta. That means: Staryu is the perfect member for that team.
At this time I didn't know what to do. I had a solid core, but no experiences in playing Little Cup, so I didn't know what would work well. I wanted to have a good Scarfer that has good resistences so I went for Sandile, because it has Moxie, what I thought to be good in this mode.
I was badly weak to Fighting, so I wanted to play a ghost. Gastly was very good in theory, so I chose it.
Like you could realize, when you saw the short text at Sandile and Gastly, they are not in the team anymore. This was the version I played for 10-15 battles, but I wasn't convinced of this team. It was okay, but not good. First thing I noticed was the bad weak to Misdreavus, so I thought about a good counter. Sandile sucked, so I wanted to replay it with something that wins against Misdeavus. I finally ended on putting Croagunk over Sandile, as a pretty nice counter to Misdreavus and a third resistance to Fighting. I lacked a Scarfer at this Point, so I decided to play Mienfoo with a Choice Scarf, because I thought it would be good, too.
I also knew about the possibility of playing Misdreavus at this point, what I didn't know at the beginning, so I replaced Gastly and put Misdreavus on the team, because it's just better. A good decision.
Now this is the final version of the team "The Essence of Ashes":
~ Under the Microscope ~
Mienfoo***Not For War
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Impish | EVs: 156 Atk / 196 Def / 80 SDef / 76 Spd | Trait: Regenerator
U-turn | Stone Edge | Hi Jump Kick | Fake Out
Staryu***Condemned Soil
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Timid | EVs: 68 HP / 200 SAtk / 240 Spd | Trait: Natural Cure
Misdreavus***Hungry Purse
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Timid | EVs: 240 SAtk / 240 Spd | Nature: Levitate
Bronzor***Enough
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Relaxed | EVs: 220 HP / 8 Atk / 148 Def / 4 SAtk / 116 SDef / 12 Spd | Trait: Levitate
Psychic | Earthquake | Hidden Power [Ice] | Stealth Rock
Enough
Once too often
Enough is enough
Croagunk***Bagaudae
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Quite | EVs: 212 HP / 28 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SAtk / 116 SDef | Trait: Dry Skin
Fake Out | Shadow Ball | Sucker Punch | Vacuum Wave
A daring venture
A frenetic attempt
When Amandus was slain
The Bagaudae still sang
Larvesta***Glowing Spark
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Adamant | EVs: 76 HP / 156 Atk / 76 Def / 76 SDef / 116 Spd | Trait: Flame Body
[peaked #1]
At first I would like to present the song, the RMT is named after: The Essence of Ashes - by Elvuveitie. Okay, lean back, listen to this epic song and read the RMT have fun!
Hey guys, this is the RMT of my Little Cup team, which was quite successful on the smogon LC-ladder. For the team's history: In the beginning of March 2012 I started a challenge with my friend Burn or Lohgock.. The aim was to peak top10 in every Wifi-Mode (Wifi Uber, Wifi OU, Wifi UU, Wifi RU, Wifi NU, Wifi LC). After some weaks of doing nothing I decided to start with Little Cup.
At this point I knew absolutely nothing about this mode. I just started to read an article about it and after that I started to build the previous version of this team.
It worked ok, so I went on testing and improving the team in the next two weeks, until I got this final version. From this point to now, there were only very small changes on the team, like changing some attacks or an EV-spread.
I had around 1100 points at this point, but decided to ladder for the Top10 now.
At the 9th of April I peaked in the Top10 the first time, but decided to go on laddering, because I really enjoyed playing Little Cup. It's really a nice mode and a interesting metagame, that is fun to play.
I went on and wanted to peak #1 and I finally succeeded.
Because there aren't a lot of LC tournaments and I won't go on laddering I post this RMT now, to present my team. Have Fun with the Team "The Essence of Ashes" guys!
Here is my peak:
~ Team Evolution and Teambuilding ~
I want to start with some words to explain the mode Little Cup. There are several differences between and LC. Of course there are obvious differences like you are fighting on lv. 5 and so on, but there are also differences related to playing it. The first important thing is the missing of Leftovers. Eviolite is the standard item and that means nobody carries Leftovers. Knowing that, you maybe realize, that it's really hard to switch often in in LC, because the opponent can rack up damage. This is one of the reasons to play U-Turn in LC. You can just come on free, what is a huge advantage, because you don't get any damage. This is the first thing you have to think of if you want to build a team.
I also started about thinking on a solid U-turn Pokemon and decided for Mienfoo. Mienfoo is an amazing Pokemon and in my opinion one of the 5 best Pokemon in Littlecup. U-turn is essential for winning the game and Mienfoo is just absolutely amazing for U-turning because of Regenerator. Choosing Mienfoo was the best thing I could so and I never looked back, because it works so unbelievable good.
I also started about thinking on a solid U-turn Pokemon and decided for Mienfoo. Mienfoo is an amazing Pokemon and in my opinion one of the 5 best Pokemon in Littlecup. U-turn is essential for winning the game and Mienfoo is just absolutely amazing for U-turning because of Regenerator. Choosing Mienfoo was the best thing I could so and I never looked back, because it works so unbelievable good.
U-turn has another advantage: It forces switches. Switches with hazards on the field are very dangerous in Little Cup because you don’t have Leftovers to recover the damage. That means Pokemon without Recovery will lose more and more health just by me switching in and out until I can pull out a final sweep. Knowing that, I wanted to have 100% save Stealth Rocks. Generally playing a solid core that isn't defensive is a very good strategie for Little Cup, so I planned to play a quite offensive Team. You could call it Bulky Offense.
There are not that much good Stealth Rock Users in Little Cup. An often seen Pokemon with it is Hippowdon, but I wanted to have something more useful, that has not that much weaknesses, because I didn't want to play a defensive core to stop everything. A Pokemon that can lay down Stealth Rocks and can stop a huge part of the metagame is Bronzor, because the only weakness is Fire. So I chose it.
Fighting is one of the most often used types in Little Cup. It's hard to stop, but there is one Pokemon to beat it quite good: Larvesta. Larvesta has a 30% chance to burn any physical Sweeper that attacks it, what is unbelievable valuable. You can stop any U-turn user and potentially stop any setup Sweeper you normally would lose to. It also forms a nice core with Bronzor and Mienfoo so I chose it.
Like I already said, Hazards are quite dangerous in Little Cup. Stealth Rocks can do big damage, but Spikes on a Stallteam can do hilarious damage. So there was one thing clear: I had to play a Spinner. There was nothing big to decide. Tentacool is defensive, Drilbur needs Sandstorm, what also racks up damage, what is not good so there was only Staryu. Staryu is just as good as Starmie in OU, maybe even better. It's very fast and can 2HKO a big part of the metagame. Also every counter is stopped by Larvesta. That means: Staryu is the perfect member for that team.
At this time I didn't know what to do. I had a solid core, but no experiences in playing Little Cup, so I didn't know what would work well. I wanted to have a good Scarfer that has good resistences so I went for Sandile, because it has Moxie, what I thought to be good in this mode.
I was badly weak to Fighting, so I wanted to play a ghost. Gastly was very good in theory, so I chose it.
Like you could realize, when you saw the short text at Sandile and Gastly, they are not in the team anymore. This was the version I played for 10-15 battles, but I wasn't convinced of this team. It was okay, but not good. First thing I noticed was the bad weak to Misdreavus, so I thought about a good counter. Sandile sucked, so I wanted to replay it with something that wins against Misdeavus. I finally ended on putting Croagunk over Sandile, as a pretty nice counter to Misdreavus and a third resistance to Fighting. I lacked a Scarfer at this Point, so I decided to play Mienfoo with a Choice Scarf, because I thought it would be good, too.
I also knew about the possibility of playing Misdreavus at this point, what I didn't know at the beginning, so I replaced Gastly and put Misdreavus on the team, because it's just better. A good decision.
Now this is the final version of the team "The Essence of Ashes":
~ Under the Microscope ~
Mienfoo***Not For War
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Impish | EVs: 156 Atk / 196 Def / 80 SDef / 76 Spd | Trait: Regenerator
We strive not for war
We just crave to have our home
We just seek to have our rights
That our fathers used to have
We just crave to have our home
We just seek to have our rights
That our fathers used to have
Mienfoo is my lead in 3/4 battles. That's because it's faster than nearly everything and because it can give me an advantage often, by using U-turn or just taking pressure to the opponent by using a powerful Hi Jump Kick. After this Mienfoo is a common switch in for my team, because it can revenge booster and Fighting-weak Pokemon.
There are several Pokemon, I need Mienfoo to play against. The first one is Scraggy. Dragon Dance Scraggy is unbelievable strong and hard to stop in Little Cup, because it has a perfect typing for sweeping with Fighting Dark, that hits a huge part of the metagame neutral. Mienfoo can stop Scraggy easily by switching in his Dragon Dance and surprise it with the Choice Scarf that is not so common in todays metagame. Hi Jump Kick is a clean OHKO. Of course I have to predict, to don't get hit by Zen Headbutt, but predictions are generally important in Little Cup, so this isn't a problem. Checking Scraggy is not the only task of Mienfoo, but it's one of the most important tasks.
Another thing Mienfoo has to do is to switch in and gain momentum for my team, by using U-turn. One thing I have to be careful with is to don't get predictable with U-turn. If the opponent doesn't know if I attack him or use U-turn it's perfect and I have good chances of getting the momentum on my side.
Mienfoo also works as a kind of lategamesweeper for my teams. Hi Jump Kick is incredibly strong and can finish off enemies, which already have damage. Sweeping with Mienfoo is often the time I end a battle.
After explaining the tasks of Mienfoo I want to explain the set. The Choice Scarf is needed to revenge everything I want to revenge. Mienfoo is my only Scarfer so I have to be careful. Playing Eviolite would be good, too, but I just need the Speed so I don't care about the defense Stats.
The trait Regenerator should be used always, because it's one of the best traits in the game. Getting 30% back after every switch-out is very nice and the combination with U-turn is very strong. With Regenerator Mienfoo seems to live forever, because it can heal the damage it got by switching in and out one or two times. I'm also able to turn a whole battle with Mienfoo's ability. Against a faster Pokemon or a priority User that would kill Mienfoo, because it's at low health I can just sacrifice one or two Pokemon to get Mienfoo back in the game and back in a region where it isn't koed by the move that made me struggle before. Very useful!
Jolly nature is needed to be faster than some threads at +1, so I have to play it, although I miss some nice kills. That's a petty but I cannot change it.
The EV split is explained easily: 236 EVs on Attack is the maximum Mienfoo can get with an Adamant nature, because of lv. 5. 236 Speed is also the maximum on Speed for Mienfoo. So there are 38 EVs left. Putting them in HP is useless, because it wouldn't higher the stat, so I can only put them into Defense or Special Defense. I decided for Defense, because I can live an attack of Scraggy better with one point more. Putting them in Special Defense would be useful for getting less damage by Chinchou's Volt Turn, what causes problems, but Defense is more useful in my opinion.
There are several Pokemon, I need Mienfoo to play against. The first one is Scraggy. Dragon Dance Scraggy is unbelievable strong and hard to stop in Little Cup, because it has a perfect typing for sweeping with Fighting Dark, that hits a huge part of the metagame neutral. Mienfoo can stop Scraggy easily by switching in his Dragon Dance and surprise it with the Choice Scarf that is not so common in todays metagame. Hi Jump Kick is a clean OHKO. Of course I have to predict, to don't get hit by Zen Headbutt, but predictions are generally important in Little Cup, so this isn't a problem. Checking Scraggy is not the only task of Mienfoo, but it's one of the most important tasks.
Another thing Mienfoo has to do is to switch in and gain momentum for my team, by using U-turn. One thing I have to be careful with is to don't get predictable with U-turn. If the opponent doesn't know if I attack him or use U-turn it's perfect and I have good chances of getting the momentum on my side.
Mienfoo also works as a kind of lategamesweeper for my teams. Hi Jump Kick is incredibly strong and can finish off enemies, which already have damage. Sweeping with Mienfoo is often the time I end a battle.
After explaining the tasks of Mienfoo I want to explain the set. The Choice Scarf is needed to revenge everything I want to revenge. Mienfoo is my only Scarfer so I have to be careful. Playing Eviolite would be good, too, but I just need the Speed so I don't care about the defense Stats.
The trait Regenerator should be used always, because it's one of the best traits in the game. Getting 30% back after every switch-out is very nice and the combination with U-turn is very strong. With Regenerator Mienfoo seems to live forever, because it can heal the damage it got by switching in and out one or two times. I'm also able to turn a whole battle with Mienfoo's ability. Against a faster Pokemon or a priority User that would kill Mienfoo, because it's at low health I can just sacrifice one or two Pokemon to get Mienfoo back in the game and back in a region where it isn't koed by the move that made me struggle before. Very useful!
Jolly nature is needed to be faster than some threads at +1, so I have to play it, although I miss some nice kills. That's a petty but I cannot change it.
The EV split is explained easily: 236 EVs on Attack is the maximum Mienfoo can get with an Adamant nature, because of lv. 5. 236 Speed is also the maximum on Speed for Mienfoo. So there are 38 EVs left. Putting them in HP is useless, because it wouldn't higher the stat, so I can only put them into Defense or Special Defense. I decided for Defense, because I can live an attack of Scraggy better with one point more. Putting them in Special Defense would be useful for getting less damage by Chinchou's Volt Turn, what causes problems, but Defense is more useful in my opinion.
Staryu***Condemned Soil
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Timid | EVs: 68 HP / 200 SAtk / 240 Spd | Trait: Natural Cure
Hydro Pump | Thunderbolt | Rapid Spin | Hidden Power [Fire]
And it came to pass in those leaden days
That a plain, poor man got sick of his yoke of condemned soil
And it came to pass in those leaden days
That a plain, poor man got sick of his yoke of condemned soil
Staryu takes an important role in this team. One task is to spin away any Entry Hazards, the opponent lays down. In Little Cup, where not Leftovers are used, laying down Hazards is a popular. One layer of spikes takes you 2 or 3 HPs every switch, Stealth Rocks the same. These percents are very arching if you have to switch in often, because you will never get them back. My team also needs to be full health to check some threads, so I really have to use a spinner. Another reason for using a spinner is Larvesta. Larvesta is an important Pokemon for this team, specified down below at Larvesta's text, and it loses 50% per switch in, if there are Stealth Rocks laying on the field and believe me, there will be Stealth Rocks laying on the field, if I won't spin them.
If you need a spinner in LC you have several options: Tentacool, Staryu and some other Pokemon, that aren't used that often. For a nonstall team like this Staryu is in my opinion the better choice. On top of that I don't like Tentacool, so I use Staryu.
Another important role of my Staryu is to break Stall. Stall is strong in Little Cup and breaking it is kind of hard. When I played on the ladder there were many hailstall teams and teams with Mini-Ferrocent. These teams often use Snover or Ferroseed as a counter for Staryu. Staryu can beat these threads with HP[Fire] and will put pressure on the opponent after this.
In the last monthe there was an increase of the usage of Lileep and Shroomish. Defensive teams, who use them are very troublesome and are also one of the reasons I don't use this team anymore.
Staryu has beside its special tasks also tasks more general. It's a fast Pokemon, what is also a nice thing to have in Littlecup. With 85 Base Speed it can overrun many offensive Pokemon, so I can use it as a great check for many threads.
Starmy has also resistances to Water, Ice and Fire, what means it has resistances against three common types. That's always nice to have.
With Hydro Pump, Staryu has a Water STAB, one of the best STAB types and can deal just damage on many incoming Pokemon, what is good in LC, because of no recovery.
Staryu is also my main check against Larvesta, a dangerous thread, because it can set up in Bronzor, Mienfoo or Croagunk.
I play Evolith on Staryu instead of Life Orb, because I want to be able to switch in. Staryu would be incredibly powerful with Life Orb, but I cannot profit of a Pokemon, that isn't able to set up on resisted moves.
240 Speed Timid gives me the maximum of Speed I can get, for just overrunning as many opponents as possible. Staryu reaches 19 Speed with this Split, one of the highest Speedstats in LC without a Choice Scarf.
200 Special Attack are the maximum you can get timid, left over EVs go to HP.
The choice of attacks may seem weird at the first look. Hydro Pump and Thunderbolt for Water/Electro coverage are evident. Rapid Spin as well.
The special move is HP[Fire], that I use instead of Recover. This move was very good, when I played this team, because it was surprising and beat the main counters of Staryu. In these days, playing Recover could be better, because Staryu is often countered by different Pokemon, like Lileep or Shroomish.
If you need a spinner in LC you have several options: Tentacool, Staryu and some other Pokemon, that aren't used that often. For a nonstall team like this Staryu is in my opinion the better choice. On top of that I don't like Tentacool, so I use Staryu.
Another important role of my Staryu is to break Stall. Stall is strong in Little Cup and breaking it is kind of hard. When I played on the ladder there were many hailstall teams and teams with Mini-Ferrocent. These teams often use Snover or Ferroseed as a counter for Staryu. Staryu can beat these threads with HP[Fire] and will put pressure on the opponent after this.
In the last monthe there was an increase of the usage of Lileep and Shroomish. Defensive teams, who use them are very troublesome and are also one of the reasons I don't use this team anymore.
Staryu has beside its special tasks also tasks more general. It's a fast Pokemon, what is also a nice thing to have in Littlecup. With 85 Base Speed it can overrun many offensive Pokemon, so I can use it as a great check for many threads.
Starmy has also resistances to Water, Ice and Fire, what means it has resistances against three common types. That's always nice to have.
With Hydro Pump, Staryu has a Water STAB, one of the best STAB types and can deal just damage on many incoming Pokemon, what is good in LC, because of no recovery.
Staryu is also my main check against Larvesta, a dangerous thread, because it can set up in Bronzor, Mienfoo or Croagunk.
I play Evolith on Staryu instead of Life Orb, because I want to be able to switch in. Staryu would be incredibly powerful with Life Orb, but I cannot profit of a Pokemon, that isn't able to set up on resisted moves.
240 Speed Timid gives me the maximum of Speed I can get, for just overrunning as many opponents as possible. Staryu reaches 19 Speed with this Split, one of the highest Speedstats in LC without a Choice Scarf.
200 Special Attack are the maximum you can get timid, left over EVs go to HP.
The choice of attacks may seem weird at the first look. Hydro Pump and Thunderbolt for Water/Electro coverage are evident. Rapid Spin as well.
The special move is HP[Fire], that I use instead of Recover. This move was very good, when I played this team, because it was surprising and beat the main counters of Staryu. In these days, playing Recover could be better, because Staryu is often countered by different Pokemon, like Lileep or Shroomish.
Misdreavus***Hungry Purse
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Timid | EVs: 240 SAtk / 240 Spd | Nature: Levitate
Nasty Plot | Shadow Ball | Hidden Power [Fighting] | Thunderbolt
And a foreign empire's hungry purse
Time to replace pitchfork with sword
And sound the anthem of sheer rebellion
And a foreign empire's hungry purse
Time to replace pitchfork with sword
And sound the anthem of sheer rebellion
Misdreavus is an awesome Pokemon. I think you all know this, if you ever played a LC-Metagame with Misdreavus in it. Misdreavus was a Pokemon without a evolution in Jotho and Hoenn and often these Pokemons are to strong for Little Cup. Misdreavus is a border case, too. It's fast, it's strong, it has a boostmove, it has a good type. But I don't mind how strong it is and if it is right to allow it in LC, because when I played Little Cup it was allowed. Like I explained in the Team Evolution, I didn't know it is LC at first and played Gastly instead. But it's a fact that Misdreavus is better than Gastly, so I use it.
First important role of Misdreavus is to fucking winning me games. Misdreavus is often the last Pokemon my opponent sees, because if I played right, it will often be able to sweep the hell out of opponent's team. For this role Misdreavus is a perfect choice, because it is one of the most powerful Pokemon in the Metagame. I like to compare it to a Gengar with 75% more bulk or so, because this is reality. It has even one thing Gengar hasn't got: Nasty Plot. Let's sum up the reasons for Missy: it's one of the fastest and strongest Pokemon in LC, it's a boosting Sweeper and it's freaking bulky.
Of course Misdreavus won't win me a game every time. Often I just tear holes in the opponent’s defense, so another pokemon can do a sweep.
Another great ability of Misdreavus is to absorb fighting moves. There are several ones in LC and most of them are powerful. High Jump kick will even damage the opponent, if I predict it and that's very cool. Without Misdreavus, the opponent wouldn't have to be careful with using High Jump Kick and that would mean that I lose, because High Jump Kick is pure power.
Misdreavus is also my main answer to defensive Chinchous, because I can easily boost myself against them.
I play a completely offensive boosting set on Misdreavus. Eviolite is the only defensive orientated thing on Misdreavus, but it lets me take hits much better and like Staryu I want to switch in easily, what is guaranteed by Eviolite.
My EV split is standard. Maximal special Attack and Speed for sweeping like a boss. Misdreavus' Basestats allow a full investment of EVs in both values and putting the rest of the EVs into another value would be senseless.
Nature is timid, because Speed is more valuable on Mismagius, than one point in SAtk more.
The moves are Shadowball and HP[Fighting] for epic coveredge and Nastyplot for epic SAtk. The last move is not that important, but can be nice in some situations. Substitute would be good as well.
First important role of Misdreavus is to fucking winning me games. Misdreavus is often the last Pokemon my opponent sees, because if I played right, it will often be able to sweep the hell out of opponent's team. For this role Misdreavus is a perfect choice, because it is one of the most powerful Pokemon in the Metagame. I like to compare it to a Gengar with 75% more bulk or so, because this is reality. It has even one thing Gengar hasn't got: Nasty Plot. Let's sum up the reasons for Missy: it's one of the fastest and strongest Pokemon in LC, it's a boosting Sweeper and it's freaking bulky.
Of course Misdreavus won't win me a game every time. Often I just tear holes in the opponent’s defense, so another pokemon can do a sweep.
Another great ability of Misdreavus is to absorb fighting moves. There are several ones in LC and most of them are powerful. High Jump kick will even damage the opponent, if I predict it and that's very cool. Without Misdreavus, the opponent wouldn't have to be careful with using High Jump Kick and that would mean that I lose, because High Jump Kick is pure power.
Misdreavus is also my main answer to defensive Chinchous, because I can easily boost myself against them.
I play a completely offensive boosting set on Misdreavus. Eviolite is the only defensive orientated thing on Misdreavus, but it lets me take hits much better and like Staryu I want to switch in easily, what is guaranteed by Eviolite.
My EV split is standard. Maximal special Attack and Speed for sweeping like a boss. Misdreavus' Basestats allow a full investment of EVs in both values and putting the rest of the EVs into another value would be senseless.
Nature is timid, because Speed is more valuable on Mismagius, than one point in SAtk more.
The moves are Shadowball and HP[Fighting] for epic coveredge and Nastyplot for epic SAtk. The last move is not that important, but can be nice in some situations. Substitute would be good as well.
Bronzor***Enough
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Relaxed | EVs: 220 HP / 8 Atk / 148 Def / 4 SAtk / 116 SDef / 12 Spd | Trait: Levitate
Psychic | Earthquake | Hidden Power [Ice] | Stealth Rock
Enough
Once too often
Enough is enough
Let's come to the defensive core of this team. Bronzor is the most defensive Pokemon I use and also the Pokemon that supports the team with Stealth Rocks.
If you would ask me, what is the main task of Bronzor, I would answer "Taking hits". That hit's it very nice I think. In Little Cup it is in my opinion nice to have a defensive backup that can take hits in bad situations. Bronzor does this like a boss, because he is very bulky in both values: Defense and Special Defense.
The first thing Bronzor has to do is laying down Stealth Rocks. I feel like I said it already one hindered times, but Entry Hazards are good in Little Cup. Stealth Rocks guarantee me some kills I have to do and protects me against Volturn teams and offensive teams, who use fragile Pokemon, which I can kill after some damage. Bronzor is one of the most reliable Stealth Rocks users, that's one reason I play it.
Another reason for using Bronzor is its ability to counter some dangerous threads. Maybe the most important one is Drilbur. In the Sandsturm it's very fast and I have problems to revenge it. It is able to boost its attack in sky high levels and Bronzor is a good counter to Drilbur. Earthquake is blocked by Levitate, Rock- and Steel moves aren't very effective and X-Scissor is no STAB. Most of times I am able to at least do some damage on Drilbur, so Croagunk can revenge it, but often I also can directly beat it or force it to switch out.
Another advantage of Bronzor is his big pool of residences. I can profit by this because that means Bronzor is a good switchin in many cases.
It's also cool, that there aren't that much Pokemon, who can really OHKO Bronzor, so I can damage nearly everything a bit to a level, where Croagunk can KO in a tricky situation.
In summary you can say, Bronzor is one of the best Pokemon in LC, because it can tank. Also offensive teams can profit by this amazing ability. On top of that it can support the whole team by laying down Stealth Rocks.
The item is of course Eviolite, because it's the best item on Bronzor and generally in Little Cup. With Eviolite Bronzor reaches incredible 24 SDef and 27 Def. Combined with 25 HPs it forms an amazing wall.
The EV Split is the standard Split for Bronzor. It maximizes the defense stats overall and uses the leftover EVs to reach one point more in the attacking values, which are both needed. The nature is Relaxed, because I find it more important to counter Drilbur better, than getting less damage of special hits.
The moves are also standard: Stealth Rocks for team support, Psychic against fighting types like Mienfoo or Timburr, HP[Ice] for Ground Pokemon like Hippo and also for one of the most annoying Pokemon: Natu. At the end, Earthquake for coveredge. It's also my move against Drilbur.
If you would ask me, what is the main task of Bronzor, I would answer "Taking hits". That hit's it very nice I think. In Little Cup it is in my opinion nice to have a defensive backup that can take hits in bad situations. Bronzor does this like a boss, because he is very bulky in both values: Defense and Special Defense.
The first thing Bronzor has to do is laying down Stealth Rocks. I feel like I said it already one hindered times, but Entry Hazards are good in Little Cup. Stealth Rocks guarantee me some kills I have to do and protects me against Volturn teams and offensive teams, who use fragile Pokemon, which I can kill after some damage. Bronzor is one of the most reliable Stealth Rocks users, that's one reason I play it.
Another reason for using Bronzor is its ability to counter some dangerous threads. Maybe the most important one is Drilbur. In the Sandsturm it's very fast and I have problems to revenge it. It is able to boost its attack in sky high levels and Bronzor is a good counter to Drilbur. Earthquake is blocked by Levitate, Rock- and Steel moves aren't very effective and X-Scissor is no STAB. Most of times I am able to at least do some damage on Drilbur, so Croagunk can revenge it, but often I also can directly beat it or force it to switch out.
Another advantage of Bronzor is his big pool of residences. I can profit by this because that means Bronzor is a good switchin in many cases.
It's also cool, that there aren't that much Pokemon, who can really OHKO Bronzor, so I can damage nearly everything a bit to a level, where Croagunk can KO in a tricky situation.
In summary you can say, Bronzor is one of the best Pokemon in LC, because it can tank. Also offensive teams can profit by this amazing ability. On top of that it can support the whole team by laying down Stealth Rocks.
The item is of course Eviolite, because it's the best item on Bronzor and generally in Little Cup. With Eviolite Bronzor reaches incredible 24 SDef and 27 Def. Combined with 25 HPs it forms an amazing wall.
The EV Split is the standard Split for Bronzor. It maximizes the defense stats overall and uses the leftover EVs to reach one point more in the attacking values, which are both needed. The nature is Relaxed, because I find it more important to counter Drilbur better, than getting less damage of special hits.
The moves are also standard: Stealth Rocks for team support, Psychic against fighting types like Mienfoo or Timburr, HP[Ice] for Ground Pokemon like Hippo and also for one of the most annoying Pokemon: Natu. At the end, Earthquake for coveredge. It's also my move against Drilbur.
Croagunk***Bagaudae
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Quite | EVs: 212 HP / 28 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SAtk / 116 SDef | Trait: Dry Skin
Fake Out | Shadow Ball | Sucker Punch | Vacuum Wave
A daring venture
A frenetic attempt
When Amandus was slain
The Bagaudae still sang
I hate to say it again, but like all the other Pokemon, Croagunk has of course also an important role in the team. Croagunk was the last Pokemon I added and because of that, it is the gap-filler. It checks and counters the threads that were troublesome for me before.
The first important task of Croagunk is to beat Misdreavus. I've already explained why Misdreavus is such an incredibly strong Pokemon in LC. What I haven't told you yet, is the small pool of counters Misdreevus has. Croagunk is side on side with Porygon the best counter for Misdreavus and that's one of the main reasons I use it here. Anyway Croagunk is not a save counter to Misdreavus and I have to play smart against it. Prediction is a key here. On the one side I can use Sucker Punch for no damage or Shadow Ball for a safe Subbreak and a 100% sure damage. Usually I'm able to play around Misdreavus and Croagunk did his job.
Another task is to revenge. Croagunk has three priority moves and they are both very important for the team. Sucker Punch is my usual way to deal with Abra and Gastly. On top of that it’s relative strong, so I can also finish a Pokemon, that takes neutral damage of Darktype moves if I've already dealt some damage.
The second move is Vacuum Wave, which is very important as well. I need it against Tirtouga and against Drilbur, if Bronzor failed in defeating it. I would say I use Vacuum Wave against many speedboosting Pokemons, because it's effective against many of them. Vacuum Wave is by the way also nice against scraggy, if I failed with Minefoo, what shouldn't happen, but sometimes happens anyway.
The third priority move is Fake Out. Fake Out is nice in LC, because you will always deal at least 1 HP damage against Pokemon, which is quite much if 25 HP is a good HP-Stat in this mode. The damage also won't get healed back with Leftovers, which is quite nice. Fake Out is important to break the Focus Sash of Abra and to get more KOs with my priority moves. It has also happened sometimes, that I was in favor 4-1 and a Pokemon boosted his Speed. If I have nothing to deal with it, I can sacrifice all my Pokemon and switch in Croagunk every turn after the kill and Fake Out. If I do this 3 times I can probably kill with Sucker Punch or Vacuum Wave.
Croagunk is also an important Fighting-, Dark- and Bugresistanze. That's important to stop Voltturn.
On top of all this, Croagunk has the ability to absorb Watermoves, what makes it to a great check against Chinchou or Staryu, who are big threads for my team, because I have no electric type resistance, like you may have noticed already.
The Item is again an Eviolite, because it's the best choice for this set.
The EV split is a standard Split. It maximizes my HP and gives me a solid Special Defense to tank Misdreavus moves better. Some Special Attack EVs power up my moves and are important for some kills with Vacuum Wave. The rest is put in the different values, so I can have the maximum of values possible with this split.
Quite nature to make special moves stronger and to not weakening my other stats. The Speed is the value most dispensable, so I lower it.
The ability is of course Dry Skin, because it is such a usefull ability and I need something to resist Watermoves beside Staryu.
The attacks beside Shadow ball were already explained above, so I only will explain SBall. The set in the smogon Pokedex uses Dark Pulse, but I prefer Shadow ball, because it hits fightingtypes and Croagunks neutral and I like that.
The first important task of Croagunk is to beat Misdreavus. I've already explained why Misdreavus is such an incredibly strong Pokemon in LC. What I haven't told you yet, is the small pool of counters Misdreevus has. Croagunk is side on side with Porygon the best counter for Misdreavus and that's one of the main reasons I use it here. Anyway Croagunk is not a save counter to Misdreavus and I have to play smart against it. Prediction is a key here. On the one side I can use Sucker Punch for no damage or Shadow Ball for a safe Subbreak and a 100% sure damage. Usually I'm able to play around Misdreavus and Croagunk did his job.
Another task is to revenge. Croagunk has three priority moves and they are both very important for the team. Sucker Punch is my usual way to deal with Abra and Gastly. On top of that it’s relative strong, so I can also finish a Pokemon, that takes neutral damage of Darktype moves if I've already dealt some damage.
The second move is Vacuum Wave, which is very important as well. I need it against Tirtouga and against Drilbur, if Bronzor failed in defeating it. I would say I use Vacuum Wave against many speedboosting Pokemons, because it's effective against many of them. Vacuum Wave is by the way also nice against scraggy, if I failed with Minefoo, what shouldn't happen, but sometimes happens anyway.
The third priority move is Fake Out. Fake Out is nice in LC, because you will always deal at least 1 HP damage against Pokemon, which is quite much if 25 HP is a good HP-Stat in this mode. The damage also won't get healed back with Leftovers, which is quite nice. Fake Out is important to break the Focus Sash of Abra and to get more KOs with my priority moves. It has also happened sometimes, that I was in favor 4-1 and a Pokemon boosted his Speed. If I have nothing to deal with it, I can sacrifice all my Pokemon and switch in Croagunk every turn after the kill and Fake Out. If I do this 3 times I can probably kill with Sucker Punch or Vacuum Wave.
Croagunk is also an important Fighting-, Dark- and Bugresistanze. That's important to stop Voltturn.
On top of all this, Croagunk has the ability to absorb Watermoves, what makes it to a great check against Chinchou or Staryu, who are big threads for my team, because I have no electric type resistance, like you may have noticed already.
The Item is again an Eviolite, because it's the best choice for this set.
The EV split is a standard Split. It maximizes my HP and gives me a solid Special Defense to tank Misdreavus moves better. Some Special Attack EVs power up my moves and are important for some kills with Vacuum Wave. The rest is put in the different values, so I can have the maximum of values possible with this split.
Quite nature to make special moves stronger and to not weakening my other stats. The Speed is the value most dispensable, so I lower it.
The ability is of course Dry Skin, because it is such a usefull ability and I need something to resist Watermoves beside Staryu.
The attacks beside Shadow ball were already explained above, so I only will explain SBall. The set in the smogon Pokedex uses Dark Pulse, but I prefer Shadow ball, because it hits fightingtypes and Croagunks neutral and I like that.
Larvesta***Glowing Spark
Item: Eviolite | Nature: Adamant | EVs: 76 HP / 156 Atk / 76 Def / 76 SDef / 116 Spd | Trait: Flame Body
Flare Blitz | U-turn | Will'o'Wisp | Morning Sun
A glowing spark
Rising up from blazing falmes
To lead the forlorn and and wroth
The epitome of hope and freedom
A glowing spark
Rising up from blazing falmes
To lead the forlorn and and wroth
The epitome of hope and freedom
Last Pokemon in this team. Larvesta is really a cool Pokemon and I like it very much, because it fits just perfectly on the last spot of this team.
First task it does like a boss is countering Volturn. It's incredible cool to have a Pokemon, that lets the opponent lose in 30% of cases, if he uses Uturn. A burned Mienfoo is often the crucial thing that brings me the win. I realized that Stone Edge got more common on Mienfoo, so I think you have to be much more careful, if you test this team, because losing Larvesta always sucks.
Next thing I like to have and Larvesta gives me is Uturn. This team isn't a real Uturn core, but I have two Pokemon with this move, who can annoy the opponent with some Uturnspamming. Like in OU I like to have that on my teams, because it lets you keep your momentum, what is especially important in Little Cup, because switching often in attacks is a thing, you should look on critically. Maybe you'll need the HPs later and if you don't have much experience with the team you are using you will struggle on planning your match that good, that you won't need some HPs you lost later in the game.
But Larvesta gives me more than this. It is able to set up on the counters of Misdreavus Porygon and Croagunk with ease and can also setup against many other common Pokemon in the metagame. If you have Larvesta on the field you can fire of a Flare Blitz, do you close Uturn or just cripple something with Will'o'Wisp. You see Larvesta is really a good Pokemon to keep momentum.
Let's sum up the negative things... Larvesta is weak to Stealth Rocks, what means you have to spin if you want to use it. And believe me; you have to use Larvesta, because it's a key Pokemon in this team. It's important to spin in every situation you can do it.
And the last bad thing is the bad Speed. But this isn't a real critic, I just would love to have a faster Larvesta, but I think nobody will mind that.
The EV split is standard: Good overall Bulk and a decent Attack value. Adamant nature Flare Blitz hurts as hell and Uturn with more power is always a nice thing.
Flare Blitz is the move you will often use to finish things off. Uturn is the preferred move in midgame. Will'o'Wisp can also be replaced by Wild Charge, but it may be more useful in some situations, because I'm often unlucky with Flame Body, if I really need it. Morning sun is the move to recover, because recover is a nice thing in LC (have I already said that?).
First task it does like a boss is countering Volturn. It's incredible cool to have a Pokemon, that lets the opponent lose in 30% of cases, if he uses Uturn. A burned Mienfoo is often the crucial thing that brings me the win. I realized that Stone Edge got more common on Mienfoo, so I think you have to be much more careful, if you test this team, because losing Larvesta always sucks.
Next thing I like to have and Larvesta gives me is Uturn. This team isn't a real Uturn core, but I have two Pokemon with this move, who can annoy the opponent with some Uturnspamming. Like in OU I like to have that on my teams, because it lets you keep your momentum, what is especially important in Little Cup, because switching often in attacks is a thing, you should look on critically. Maybe you'll need the HPs later and if you don't have much experience with the team you are using you will struggle on planning your match that good, that you won't need some HPs you lost later in the game.
But Larvesta gives me more than this. It is able to set up on the counters of Misdreavus Porygon and Croagunk with ease and can also setup against many other common Pokemon in the metagame. If you have Larvesta on the field you can fire of a Flare Blitz, do you close Uturn or just cripple something with Will'o'Wisp. You see Larvesta is really a good Pokemon to keep momentum.
Let's sum up the negative things... Larvesta is weak to Stealth Rocks, what means you have to spin if you want to use it. And believe me; you have to use Larvesta, because it's a key Pokemon in this team. It's important to spin in every situation you can do it.
And the last bad thing is the bad Speed. But this isn't a real critic, I just would love to have a faster Larvesta, but I think nobody will mind that.
The EV split is standard: Good overall Bulk and a decent Attack value. Adamant nature Flare Blitz hurts as hell and Uturn with more power is always a nice thing.
Flare Blitz is the move you will often use to finish things off. Uturn is the preferred move in midgame. Will'o'Wisp can also be replaced by Wild Charge, but it may be more useful in some situations, because I'm often unlucky with Flame Body, if I really need it. Morning sun is the move to recover, because recover is a nice thing in LC (have I already said that?).
~ Playing with the team ~
For showing you how I play with this team, I will show you some replays. Watch them I you want to.
Litchi vs. Dark_Psiana
Litchi vs. Dark_Psiana
13Yoshi37 vs. Dark_Psiana (don't mind the talking pls)
Litchi vs. Dark_Psiana
Litchi vs. Dark_Psiana
13Yoshi37 vs. Dark_Psiana (don't mind the talking pls)
