Changes are not bold.
Most of you guys probably now me as a UU player, but I've actually gotten really into Little Cup. Unlike all the other tiers, it actually consists of heavy prediction, and it really matters what Pokemon are on your team a lot. No two Pokemon are really the same, so it's just a little more fun than the other tiers. Now about the team; I actually made this team to test a few Pokemon I was writing analyses for, and I guess I just have a soft spot for Little Cup. I decided to base the team off of Zigzagoon because it is one of the first Pokemon I have ever had and it's just so cute! Anyway, here's the team.
Kojofuu (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Regeneration EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Hi Jump Kick
- Stone Edge
- Payback
- U-turn
Mankey is pretty awesome Pokemon in general, and leads this team off perfectly. Mankey has been here since day one, and is always reliable. He is the fastest Fighting-type in Little Cup, and one of the best Scarfers. With Close Combat, he does extreme amounts of damage. His resistance to Stealth Rock and only two weaknesses allows him to switch in a lot, and he never seems to be knocked out. Punishment is literally the best name for the attack; it punishes any Ghost in its way. U-turn is great for scouting and deactivating Sturdy/Focus Sashes, as well as doing some damage when I just need to get out of there. Ice Punch was chosen over Rock Slide to smash Gligar, who always seems to be around somewhere.
Mankey generally holds to the together really well, revenge killing many threats that would otherwise destroy my team, notably Dragon Dance Zuruggu, who Mankey out-speeds after a Dragon Dance and OHKOs with Close Combat. Vital Spirit is also pretty awesome, allowing me to always stay awake. With all those Sunny Day teams trolling the metagame, about 50% of them have Sleep Powder somewhere, whether it's Oddish Bellsprout, Bulbasaur or any troll little Grass-type. The EVs aim to maximize Speed and Attack, while the rest are dumped into HP for added bulk. Mankey is a pretty kick-ass lead overall.
***Kojofuu replaced Mankey because I was done testing it and Kojofuu simply outclasses it, despite its terrible name.
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Raccoon (Zigzagoon) (M) @ Salac Berry
Trait: Pickup
EVs: 196 Atk / 28 Def / 28 SDef / 196 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Belly Drum
- ExtremeSpeed
- Return
- Seed Bomb
Umm...WOW. That's really all I can say. Zigzagoon does so much, it's incredible. Although he doesn't have everything going for him with a terrible Physical movepool and pretty horrible stats, he still goes a long way. With Wynaut almost guaranteeing I'll set up somehow, Zigzagoon has no trouble taking out whole teams. The point is to set up Belly Drum with the help of Wynaut, then Salac Berry will activate with the help of Gluttony. Now I have 52 Attack, 22 Speed, and a 2 priority move. Extremspeed is my main sweeping move, and really rips apart anything that doesn't resist it. Return is a stronger, slower version of Extremespeed, and gets a few notable KOs that Extremespeed doesn't (Return has a 9% chance to OHKO max HP Evolution Stone Gligar, and a 93% chance after Stealth Rock). Seed Bomb is pretty much all I have left, but it does quite a lot. It will always KO standard Misdreavus, has a high chance to KO standard Gastly (who even resists it), and will always KO 252/252 Evolution Stone Pururiru, assuming I've used Belly Drum.
Zigzagoon really does everything I want it to, and I don't see it being replaced anytime soon. With Magnemite taking out Steel-types like a pro, I really have nothing stopping my sweep. Zigzagoon is a pretty good Ghost resist too, and just fits on the team so well. I can honestly say 60% of my battles with this team have resulted in the attack of Zigzagoon. He's just great!
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isithumanidk (Wynaut) (M) @ Oran Berry
Trait: Shadow Tag
EVs: 236 HP / 132 Def / 132 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Destiny Bond
- Mirror Coat
- Counter
- Encore
Wynaut is pretty cool. With Evolution Stone, he becomes quite bulky, and can take most super effective hits. The purpose of Wynaut is to switch in on something stupid who's using a support move, and then use Encore on it. Now, the opponent is trapped thanks to Shadow Tag, and has to use the support move. I take the second turn to switch to Zigzagoon, while the opponent uses their stupid move again. Now, the opponent has either use their stupid move or switch out. That means I have one free turn to set up Belly Drum, and I pretty much win after that. Wynaut is gold. Because I lack a Pursuit-user, I decided to use Destiny Bond in the last slot. Counter and Mirror Coat are pretty self-explanatory, and with Encore and Shadow Tag, they can often remove big threats from the game.
Destiny Bond also works really well in conjunction with Encore and Shadow Tag. If I'm unsure what my opponent will do and I'm at low health, I can Destiny Bond. Now my opponent can either kill me and die with me, or set up. That means I can Encore and either kill them or get free set up with Zigzagoon. Wynaut is pretty much a complex killing machine, just like its big brother, Wobbufett. With Evolution Stone, I reach 29/21/19 defenses, which if you don't know, is really, really good in Little Cup. The EVs aim to balance defenses and maximize HP.
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Magnet (Magnemite) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 36 Def / 160 SAtk / 240 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Magnet Rise
Magnemite serves a very important role in this team: Steel Killer. Zigzagoon can't do crap to a Steel-type, so Magnemite is here to destroy any Steel-type that ever lived. 160 Special Attack EVs get me to a huge 19 Special Attack stat. 240 maxes out my speed to 14, and 36 Defense EVs gets me to 14 Defenses. Cool, right? Thunderbolt 2HKOs pretty much anything that doesn't resist it, and Hidden Power Fire complements its type coverage pretty well. Substitute allows me to set up on random stuff trying to status me or even a support move Wynaut Encored. Hidden Power Fire eliminates Steel-types like Tesshiido or opposing Magnemite, as well as random Grass-type like the ever-so-annoying Monmen. Magnet Rise is probably one of the most important parts of this set, allowing me to wall Gligar who often come in on me and resist QuakeEdge.
Magnemite is pretty simple in general, that's really it for him. I'm thinking of even replace Hidden Power Fire with Hidden Power Ice to beat Gligar, but it leaves me walled against Tesshiido and other Magnemite.
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Scorpion (Gligar) (M) @ Evolution Stone
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Tail
- Earthquake
- Roost
Where do I even start? Gligar does so much for this team, bringing many useful resistances and immunities to the table. With Evolution Stone, Gligar doesn't even need defensive EVs, leaving him with 26/25/19 defenses. Gligar also has a very high speed stat of 19, as well as a respectable attack stat of 14 with no investment. Substitute is that ever-so-reliable scouting move, and works very well in conjunction with Roost. Roost removes that nasty Flying typing, giving me a resistance to Rock, which helps a lot against random Stone Edges. Earthquake dishes out good damage to almost anything, and Stone Edge complements its coverage almost perfectly.
Pretty much Gligar has excellent typing, stat distribution, a huge movepool, a handy ability and a reliable STAB attack. No wonder he's used on 24% of Little Cup teams, right? I'm considering using Aqua Tail in place of Stone Edge to hit opposing Gligar and bulky Ground-types like Phanpy, although I havn't seen any yet. I'm also considering running Stealth Rock over Substitute, as my team lacks Stealth Rock. Some suggestions on that would be really helpful!
***Changed to Swords Dance set to deal with opposing Gligar.
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Bird (Murkrow) (M) @ Evolution Stone
Trait: Mischievous Heart
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 SAtk / 188 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Pursuit
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Yeah Murkrow! I wanted to patch up my Ground weakness a little more and I wanted a Pursuit-user to hepl Zigzagoon sweep so I decided to use Murkrow before it gets banned. This is a little nifty set I created (or at least I think I created, havn't seen it anywhere else) and it works surprisingly well. Unlike the standard Sucker Punch, I use Pursuit to fully remove Ghost-types from the game, making Zigzagoon's job easier. Brave Bird does a crap-load of damage to everything, and Heat Wave hits Steel-types hard. Sadly, the combination of Brave Bird and Heat Wave isn't legal with Mischievous Heart, so I'm stuck with Insomnia. I'm thinking of switching to Super Luck though, since Mankey has Vital Spirit. Let me know what you think of that. Murkrow is really my only answer to a ton of stuff, most notably Gastly, Misdreavus and Monmen, who screw up my team otherwise. Abra can also be quite difficult to put up with, and Murkrow's Pursuit solves that problem. Murkrow also can act as a surprise Steel killer with Heat Wave if Magnemite is dead or something.
The EVs aim to abuse Murkrow's ability to reach 19 Speed, as well as max out my Attack stat. The rest were dumped into Special Attack to give Heat Wave a little kick, and it really does. Heat Wave OHKOs standard Tesshiido. Evolution Stone was chosen over Life Orb to add a little bit of bulky, giving me 22/15/13 defenses, which are okay. Roost helps recover Brave Bird damage, and surprisingly, I find a lot of time to use it against random crap like Monmen.
***Changed Heat Wave to Hidden Power [Ice] to Deal with Gligar, which means MH too, woot!
That's my team with very creative nicknames and a very detailed conclusion. Rate/Hate/Steal!