XY LC Fiona Coyne (peaked #12)

[Yeah Galo Sengan]

Hey folks. Haven't posted for a good long while, been busy with life and shit. I decided to get back into competitive battling and LC intrigued me so I went for it.

Basic premise of this team was to have a bulky backbone, a cleric and hazard control and ways to abuse (IMO) the best move in LC, knock off. A lot of threats are way more manageable when their berry juice/eviolite is gone and, save for a couple of members, my team is full of bulky little shitters that can go toe-to-toe with almost anything and come out the other side. Individual pokémon on my team can do tremendous amounts of work by themselves, and I have the support necessary to survive in drawn-out matches. It's been fairly successful so far, but a little bland, and I'm looking for advice to spice it up and take it into the top ranks.

Let's get to it...

Wave Racer (Tirtouga) @

Ability: Solid Rock
Jolly, 4 HP/212 Atk/12 Def/76 Sp.Def/180 Speed
~Shell Smash
~Waterfall
~Earthquake
~Rock Slide

Solid Rock bulky turt <3 This little baby is often preserved for a lategame sweep, once I've handled opposing fighting priority/sashes. He's strong and fast and has good coverage, not much to say. I don't feel the need for aqua jet here since I have other forms of priority on my team and would rather have a powerful STAB with the haxy flinch chance. Berry Juice and Solid Rock give me a lot of setup opportunities throughout a match.

Lindsay Lowend (Spritzee) @

Ability: Aroma Veil
Bold, 212 HP/196 Def/12 Sp.Atk/76 Sp.Def/12 Speed
~Moonblast
~Aromatherapy
~Wish
~Protect

Spritz is my bulky pivot/cleric and answer to the fighting spam that you see a lot of in LC. Timburr, Scraggy, Mienfoo, they all fall to this little blob. She provides utility and support in the form of wish and aromatherapy, and it's very hard to stop her from doing her thing thanks to Aroma Veil. I'm considering replacing protect with CM in order to generate another potential wincon.

Flight Facilities (Vullaby) @

Ability: Overcoat
Careful, 116 HP/156 Def/156 Sp.Def/36 Speed
~Brave Bird
~Knock Off
~Roost
~Defog

Meet the Lugia, uhh, Yveltal of LC?? Baby bird doesn't die to anything, ever, knocks off like a champ and eats up fighting types. Doesn't take any shit from Foongus thanks to Overcoat. Brave bird is obligatory STAB that hits hard, defog gives me some breathing room vs spike stacking and roost is reliable recovery. I'm really happy with how she's performing on my team, she makes things a lot less scary.

Maxo (Timburr) @

Ability: Guts
Impish, 76 HP/196 Atk/76 Def/156 Sp.Def
~Drain Punch
~Mach Punch
~Knock Off
~Poison Jab

A fighting type is pretty much a necessity in LC to check nasty threats such as Pawn/Pory/Turt. Timburr provides bulk in spades, absorbs status with Guts, has great utility with kock off yet again, regen with drain punch and excellent priority with a hard-hitting mach punch. Poison jab is mainly here for Cottonee/Snubbull. Timburr is a very solid fighting type and lets me handle a lot of potential threats.

Saint Pepsi (Pawniard) @

Ability: Defiant
Jolly, 156 Atk/36 Def/116 Sp.Def/196 Speed
~Iron Head
~Knock Off
~Sucker Punch
~Stealth Rock

Pawniard is arguably the most powerful pokémon in LC now that Missy's gotten the boot. He certainly is useful. STAB knock off from 17 attack takes a big chunk out of anything, sucker punch is strong reliable priority, iron head donks fairies and SR is SR.. no need to explain how good it is. I ran bulky eviolite Pawn with 16 speed since I prefer sticking around to having slightly more damage from LO.

Anamanaguchi (Bunnelby) @

Ability: Huge Power
Adamant, 228 Atk/52 Def/220 Speed
~Return
~Earthquake
~U-Turn
~Wild Charge

Bunbun is my secret weapon, and often earns his keep as a scout before turning into a terrifying lategame cleaner. 28 attack and 22 speed is pretty hard to stomach, and if steel/rock/ghost types have been eliminated then his nuclear powered return can clean house. The defense EVs, while meagre, have a vital role; they give me a good chance of living an adamant acrobatics from Fletch. Wild charge could be thief/quick attack, I just chose it for a solid hit on Gastly. It's kind of just filler.

Well that's the team. I hope you enjoyed reading and feel free to drop in and provide criticism/feedback!

Here's a replay I happened to save; http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-155740392
Update: Replay after making a couple of changes, won after a pretty huge misplay in saccing Turt for no good reason (this is how games usually end, Bunnelby OHKOing a full HP Mienfoo); http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-156529248

And here's the import if you feel like trying the team out;

importable

Wave Racer (Tirtouga) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Solid Rock
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 212 Atk / 12 Def / 76 SpD / 180 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Shell Smash

Lindsay Lowend (Spritzee) @ Eviolite
Ability: Aroma Veil
Level: 5
EVs: 212 HP / 196 Def / 12 SpA / 76 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
- Wish
- Protect

Flight Facilities (Vullaby) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 156 Def / 156 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Defog

Maxo (Timburr) @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 196 Atk / 76 Def / 156 SpD
Impish Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

Saint Pepsi (Pawniard) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock

Anamanaguchi (Bunnelby) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
Level: 5
EVs: 228 Atk / 52 Def / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Wild Charge

 

[Yagura]

Hi there, this team seems really solid and balanced I like it!! But I do have some few suggestions here and there:

- Tirtouga: I don't know why you'd run Solid Rock on a Shell Smash set, Sturdy Juice is better in most cases as you'd be able to survive a lot of hits thanks to Sturdy, heal up back to 100% thanks to Berry Juice and set up safely while being able to use Sturdy again; so with Sturdy you should remove the HP EVs to hit 21. I'd also suggest using Aqua Jet over Earthquake as sometimes you'll be in need of priority to finish stuff like a weakened Timburr that might use Mach Punch on you or trick a Pawniard into using Sucker Punch on you but you'll outspeed it, and Rock Slide and Waterfall already have a nice coverage that deals with most of the meta except stuff like Ferroseed but why would you set up while it's still healthy?

- Pawniard: I don't really have a lot to say about it except that I find the use of 116 SpD EVs weird, yes you do hit the Eviolite number but you'll usually need power more than that so I suggested putting 36 SpD EVs and adding the rest in Attack (this isn't really an obligatory as I totally understand why you put it).

- Bunnelby: Same as Pawniard I don't have a comment on the moveset, it's just that I'd suggest using a Jolly nature as you'd be able to hit 16 in Speed which would get boosted by the scarf into 24 (with Adamant you'd get only 22) which allows you to outspeed a lot of dangerous scarfers like Chinchou.

I don't really have other stuff to say as other sets are standard, like I said this team seems really solid, there is a slight Croagunk weakness but Vullaby deals with it well imo. Great job and good luck!

 

[Yeah Galo Sengan]

Yagura thanks for the rate! I have healthy fear/respect of Croagunk which is why I run EQ on Turt. Bunnelby should probably be Jolly, you're right, but I have ran into the situation where I had to OHKO a 100% HP Mienfoo with return several times and I'm not sure if 26 attack would cut it. Will have to calc, assuming 'Foo has eviolite and some investment in bulk.

 

[tutterydiglett]

Hi Yeah Galo Sengan

This is a very, very solid team and I can't really find anything that really needs to be changed (besides Solid Rock -> Sturdy but Yagura already touched on that). One thing I realised is that you're team is actually filled with Physical attackers and lacks really any Special prowess. You also said that you wanted to 'spice' things up a bit, so you might wanna try Shell Smash Omanyte.

But really, your team is pretty good as it is. Nice team, and good luck in future laddering!

 

[gali]

Hey!

This is a very solid team; However, there are some issues that I see with it.

First of all, I like that you're using Solid Rock+Shell Smash Tirt; It's a really cool and underrated set that simultaneously gives you an awesome Fletchling check and a good win condition. However, the set and EV spread you're running are suboptimal for abusing its qualities as a powerful tank that sets up mid- to late-game. Instead of the spread you're currently using, I'd like to recommend running a spread of 4 HP/132 Atk/92 Def/76 SpD/180 Spe. This spread gives Tirtouga Eviolite numbers at the cost of one Attack point, a tradeoff that I think is worth taking.

Secondly, your team appears to have a severe weakness to Magnemite. While you have ways to revenge kill it, you have nothing capable of safely switching in, which mean's it's likely to come in in wreak havoc with its high SpA. To this end, i think that replacing Vullaby with Drilbur would be a major improvement for your team.

Drilbur @ Berry Juice
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Poison Jab

Berry Juice means that Magnemite can't 2HKO Drilbur while it easily OHKOes in return. Not only is Drilbur a great check to Magnemite and other Electric-types, it also is a great counter to Croagunk as well. Since you're already running Stealth Rock on Pawniard, Poison Jab is a great alternative for the 4th moveslot as it means that Grass-types, the most common Drilbur switchins, are 2HKOed.

All in all, this is a very good team, and I believe the changes made here will make it even better.

 

[Corporal Levi]

Hi Yeah Galo Sengan
This team is extremely solid, as others have pointed out. Most of the suggestions I would give have already been covered, so I'll just go over those.
I would actually recommend 116 SpD Pawniard; 236 Atk Pawn is usually run on Brick Break variants to drastically increase the chance of a OHKO on opposing Eviolite Pawniard, but since you don't run Brick Break, the extra Special Defense actually helps quite a bit like increasing the chances of you surviving 2HKOs from Modest Magnemite's Volt Switch, 14 SpA Chinchou's Hydro Pump, and 16 SpA Chinchou's Thunderbolt before Stealth Rock/Timid Magnemite's Volt Switch after Stealth Rock/15 SpA Croagunk's Vacuum Wave overall and probably a few others. I'm not sure if 236 Atk Pawniard gets any notable KOs over 156 Atk Pawniard, but I personally almost always run 116 SpD for Eviolite Pawniard if I'm not using Brick Break.

It looks like you've implemented tahu's suggestion for Drilbur, which I certainly agree with. The biggest problem that arises from this change is that you are left more vulnerable to Foongus; making major changes might disrupt your team's synergy, so I think the simplest thing to do would be to replace Tirtouga with Omanyte, as justin suggested. Tirtouga is the better Fletchling check because Solid Rock allows it to forgo Eviolite and still set up on the same things; however, Omanyte carries the advantage of being able to muscle through Foongus with Ice Beam once it is set up. Of course, Omanyte isn't checking Foongus any time soon, but having your primary win condition weak to a Pokemon that you already lack switch-ins for is not ideal, so this change should help slightly.
Omanyte @ Eviolite
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 196 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Omanyte will probably work pretty similarly to Tirtouga, being a Water-type Shell Smasher that utilizes water and ground coverage, but Omanyte carries Ice Beam, allowing it to break through Grass-types at +2, which Tirtouga would struggle against (mostly Foongus).

To further deal with Foongus, I would like to suggest running Ice Punch over Poison Jab on Timburr. This 2HKOs Foongus after its Eviolite has been Knocked Off, ensuring Timburr isn't completely walled; it also usually gets rid of Archen after Stealth Rock, which might pose as a moderate nuisance at the moment, and hits Croagunk for neutral damage. I think opposing Spritzee and Cottonee are mostly covered by Pawniard, and Snubbull is covered by your own Spritzee, so Poison Jab isn't that necessary.

That's all I have for now; your team seems a bit vulnerable to Fighting-types when four Pokemon struggle to deal with them and you are working with Spritzee alone to check them, but Pawniard is really the only one they can actually switch in on, so hopefully they won't be overly troublesome. Good work, and good luck!

 

[Yeah Galo Sengan]

Thanks for the rates, all. I've noticed my team does have a hard time dealing with fighting types, especially fightspam with 2 of Foo/Croagunk/Timburr, making me miss my Vullaby :(