SM LC do not get it twisted

[tko]

do not get it twisted,
this time i swear i don't watch anime
anymore.
​

Torchic is long banned from the making of this thread, but I was asked to post this team so here it is. This team was one of the first teams to utilize Firium Z Torchic, a set which in it's time was neat because it could allow Torchic to collect a fast KO before baton passing out (helps if some kind of hazard was up already), and potentially removing a threat to one of the BP receivers. The inspiration of this team comes from a hazard stack + Torchic team that Heysup built (it's a known fact that any variant of a team in LC was created first by Heysup, infact). I used this team in LCPL for a win, and some of my friends (notably Shiba in a far run into LC Open semifinals) used it in tournament games afterwards, but more importantly, people were finally starting to use Firium Z Torchic over Life Orb.

At a Glance

Teambuilding Process

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I started off with Torchic since I was interested in the idea of using Firium Z as an option to quickly KO what was in front of me. This is similar to some options you see in Snake tour currently, such as Flyinium Z Vullaby.

The next two I added as a bulky pivot core, because I am a fan of Bulky Offense archetypes. Ferroseed was there because it gets up both hazards, and later on I made it 11 speed so that it can outspeed and Explode on anything 10 speed and under, to keep up offensive momentum. The Frillish is an example of the influence that Heysup had on this team; it seems pretty passive on this team but it was quite nice to have at the same time. Another pivot like Ferroseed (and even Mudbray), but was also highkey a threat with speed boosts up. Spreading fast Will-O-Wisps, fat enough to take nothing and then throwing off powerful Hexs made Frillish a great receiver of BP, even though it wasn't intended to be a sweeper (though a lot of the times it was).

<mudbray> yo sorry LOL I can't find the icon for this dude here, but I have come too far in this RMT to turn back and use different sprites in this teambuilding process or whatever. Mudbray was my Electric immunity and /bird check/, and with Stamina and RestTalk, it became really hard to kill. Add Speed to that and the man is lookin powerful.

Rounded the team off with two bulky receivers of speed. Rufflet in particular is really bulky, and giving it speed was really all it needed to become problematic. These picks are pretty straightforward; they are bulky mons which set up their respective attack stats and then along with the speed from Torchic, they go in.

In Depth

Item: Firium Z | Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 36 Def / 200 SpA / 36 SpD / 236 Spe | Modest Nature
Moves: Protect / Fire Blast / Hidden Power [Grass] / Baton Pass

Just the standard LO set except with Firium Z, not too much going on here in terms of set or EV detail. Inferno Overdrive helped net KOs against Pokemon like Mienfoo, Timburr, or Vullaby, and still got the same KOs as LO Fire Blast did, but with the added bonus of not missing. The focus of this team wasn't to have Torchic as a late game cleaner; rather, it was to just remove that one problematic Pokemon so that one of your sweepers could have a path to victory later on in the game. If there was something that Torchic could not take down with Inferno Overdrive, you could easily BP or hard switch into one of the defensive pivots, which will almost always cover all of the things Torchic is weak to. And since it is not a sweeper focused set, you don't need the power that LO gives to HP Grass, since you should instead opt to switch out to a Pokemon in the back (for example, Frillish on Staryu). It's really important to remember that this isn't meant to be the late game cleaner, because playing aggressive early on with the Z move is how the team is supposed to work optimally (Torchic is setting up the sweep, not being set up for).

+Sylie Lyyneheym: SO GOOD
+Sylie Lyyneheym: innovation bros.

Item: Eviolite | Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 4 HP / 196 Atk / 28 Def / 68 SpD / 196 Spe | Jolly Nature
Moves: Bullet Seed / Explosion / Stealth Rock / Spikes

Ferroseed is a nice hazard setter in this tier. It's typing allows it to check many offensive presences in the tier, and then he just has to get both of them up to make for an easier BP sweep. This Ferroseed spread is more speedy in nature, and it allows you to Explosion on things like Timburr. This is helpful with keeping up offensive momentum, something that a team like this appreciates versus more fast paced offensive teams. As long as Ferroseed can get up one layer of hazards (the more the better though), it has done its job.

+ggggd: papa

Item: Eviolite | Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 236 HP / 196 Def / 76 SpD | Bold Nature
Moves: Hex / Scald / Will-O-Wisp / Recover

Frillish is lowkey (or maybe highkey) the MVP of this team; it's such a nice sponge and a lot of the tier does not appreciate taking burns. Cursed Body is here because I never really found Water Absorb to be particularly helpful, since Frillish takes nothing from Water-type attacks in the first place. Frillish is also a very plausible wincon, since it is super fast and fat, and Hex becomes problematic for many Pokemon once they are burned. If you can weaken the opponent's strong Special Attackers and spread burns around, Frillish will be able to clean the game up. Physically Defensive Frillish is able to do crazy things like sponge a Knock Off from Pawniard, burn it (if you don't have speed boosts so far), and then proceed to recover up and win the 1v1, provided it is not SD Pawn; a testament to how bulky Frillish is.

~teal6: yeah
~teal6: frillish
~teal6: is the real problem w/ the metagame
+Sylie Lyyneheym: frillish w a speed boost is broken

Item: Eviolite | Ability: Stamina
EVs: 116 HP / 116 Atk / 36 Def / 236 SpD | Careful Nature
Moves: Earthquake / Rest / Heavy Slam / Sleep Talk

Mudbray was here because I thought Stamina + Speed Boost would be problematic to stop, since Mudbray also has very high SpDef so then it would be hard to KO. It also provided a nice electric resist for things like Elekid and Magnemite, which could otherwise freely volt around and probably win against my team. Eviolite on Mudbray also helps check Abra or Gastly with more HP, which is a big bonus for this team, as I don't really have good switch ins for those two mons so having checks at the very least is nice. Rest Talk over Berry Juice was what I went for since I was looking for a long term longevity sweep with Mudbray if I decide to base the sweep off this Pokemon.

+lax: nice nicknames
+lax: ..
+OP: i, personally, feel they are not nice
+Gummysaurus: are these madoka names..
+Serene's Grace: these are anime girl names

Item: Berry Juice | Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 52 HP / 116 Def / 188 SpA / 116 SpD / 36 Spe | Modest Nature
Moves: Nasty Plot / Focus Blast / Vacuum Wave / Sludge Wave

Croagunk was one of the two designated sweep receivers for the team. One of the biggest issues with Gunk is that it is super slow, and even +2 Vacuum Wave isn't strong to sweep through a team late game. It also gets revenge killed by Diglett since it's so slow, which is tragic. If you pass to Gunk and set up a Nasty Plot, provided you hit your moves, only resisted mons can try to stop this, and if you played your cards right, they should have already died to a surprise Inferno Overdrive or were weakened by the defensive core. It is not that difficult to set up a Croagunk sweep once you weaken just the few mons that stop Gunk cold.

+c oc o nut: honestly if you don't see who wins here
+c oc o nut: by like turn 6
+c oc o nut: you're not very good at mons

(true)

Item: Eviolite | Ability: Hustle
EVs: 116 HP / 12 Atk / 116 Def / 196 SpD / 36 Spe | Impish Nature
Moves: Bulk Up / Aerial Ace / Superpower / Roost

I thought Rufflet would be a cool receiver since it's super bulky, but once again, the thing that holds this back is it's speed tier. With Speed Boosts and its bulk, along with setting up through Bulk Up, Rufflet is the other designated cleaner for this team. It isn't too hard to set up on things like Mienfoo or Ground-types, and after Bulking Up, even super effective moves don't too much to Rufflet. Since it has naturally high bulk, it can also be sent in earlier on in the game to check a fast frail threat, so that something like Croagunk can sweep later on in the game. The high bulk is what allows Rufflet to shine the most.

+Sylie Lyyneheym: so at the end of the day it all comes back to
+Sylie Lyyneheym: baton pass being dumb

Import

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Torchic @ Firium Z
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 5
EVs: 36 Def / 200 SpA / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Baton Pass

Ferroseed @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 196 Atk / 28 Def / 68 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Explosion
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock

Frillish (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Cursed Body
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 196 Def / 76 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover

Mudbray @ Eviolite
Ability: Stamina
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 116 Atk / 36 Def / 236 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Heavy Slam

Croagunk @ Berry Juice
Ability: Dry Skin
Level: 5
EVs: 52 HP / 116 Def / 188 SpA / 116 SpD / 36 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Focus Blast
- Vacuum Wave
- Sludge Wave

Rufflet @ Eviolite
Ability: Hustle
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 12 Atk / 116 Def / 196 SpD / 36 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bulk Up
- Aerial Ace
- Superpower
- Roost

Ending
I know it's really late to be posting this team when the metagame has changed so much, but I thought it would be nice to revisit the old metagame and how interesting and different this tier was back when the QuickPass strategy was starting to swing through. People started picking up Firium Z usage on their Torchic in LCPL, and eventually in other tours like Open or Seasonal, which was really nice. Firium Z Torchic also became the main analysis set afterwards; before, it wasn't even a set option. I don't really have much replays since during this period, replays started to die, and so I don't have much to show u vros, sorry ://. All I could find was https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7lc-287986, which was the first game where this team got its debut.

I'm pretty inactive now, but had to come back to drop this like 5 year old team loooool. Enjoy, shoutouts emi yusa the goat!!