Project LC Next Best Thing - [The Foo' Nominating]

Altariel von Sweep

They Who Laugh Last
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I have right here a hot set that it came to my crazy mind:

Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Magnet Rise
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

Magnet Rise, despite being nicheish, it is the key for Pawniard to beat Ground-types such as non-Close Combat Mudbray and Diglett without being screwed by their STAB Earthquake. The play against Mudbray is just as easy as click it and then starting crippling it with Knock Off and ocassional Iron Head flinches. However, the play with Diglett is quite different, as you have to predict the switch to set it up and then just laugh at it. Apart from this funny niche, movepool is the usual one, and EVs are changed so Pawniard can deal as much damage as possible.
 

Gummy

...three, smiles go for miles!
Pawniard @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 200 Atk / 116 Def / 116 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Snatch
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Brick Break

Do you want a Scarf Pawniard with less coverage and a necessary turn of set up just to have the ability to switch moves?? Well if so, here is my Z-Snatch Pawniard set. The idea is that you """get trapped""" by Dig. Now usually Dig will Sub here for fear of a Sucker Punch. You snatch, then with the sub up, you z-snatch, outspeed and ohko (unless they're sash, then you flexed for nothing. You can also just click Iron Head from inside the sub, but z-snatching is more flames). This has never happened but I'm satisfied with the imaginary amount of LOOOOLs you'd get in smogtours chat if you actually managed to pull it off.
 
Pawniard @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 196 SpD / 36 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Poison Jab
- Foul Play
- Iron Head
- Brick Break

I decided to go with another Choice Band poke cuz I can't think of any other set to do. But this set is not as bad as you think. With all of the variety of Physical Attacking moves it has i decided to go with. Poison Jab Has a chance to poison the opponent which can come in handy at some points. Foul Play because of STAB and it is a hard hitting move. Iron Head Because of STAB and it can Flinch which can come in handy like Poison Jab. And Brick Break for all of those Light Screens and Reflects.
 

Merritt

no comment
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Head TD
Pawniard @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 196 SpD / 36 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Poison Jab
- Foul Play
- Iron Head
- Brick Break

I decided to go with another Choice Band poke cuz I can't think of any other set to do. But this set is not as bad as you think. With all of the variety of Physical Attacking moves it has i decided to go with. Poison Jab Has a chance to poison the opponent which can come in handy at some points. Foul Play because of STAB and it is a hard hitting move. Iron Head Because of STAB and it can Flinch which can come in handy like Poison Jab. And Brick Break for all of those Light Screens and Reflects.
>foul play on your 19 attack pokemon

it's ok, we're here for you man

In all seriousness while Choice Band should still work (unless I'm getting my mechanics mixed up for Foul Play), at 19 Attack that Pawniard will have more attack than virtually all its targets in LC - unless you run into a Cranidos, Bunnelby, or you survived the +6 extremespeed from Zig after rocks - meaning that you're somewhat shooting yourself in the foot compared to Knock Off. Knock Off has more BP if the target has an item (97.5 vs 95) and also supports the team later on if the target survives. There's a very good reason that Knock Off is standard.

also this is really sad man
236+ Atk Choice Band Pawniard Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 156 Def Eviolite Staryu: 7-9 (36.8 - 47.3%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Pawniard @ Psychium Z
Level: 5
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Psycho Cut

It's time to remind people why you ran 17 speed on your Mienfoo back in Gen 6. This set gives Pawniard a 140 BP nuclear psychic option to nail Mienfoo and Timburr with, usually OHKOing even 76/196 Eviolite Mienfoo after rocks and putting Timburr in range of Sucker Punch. Keep in mind that the Adamant nature is pretty important, although I suppose you can forgo it if you're feeling confident.

I highly recommend firing off Shattered Psyche earlier on in the game, particularly on a predicted switch, since it doesn't really require opposing Mienfoo or Timburr to be weakened or knocked off and removing them early is incredibly helpful. Pair with an otherwise threatening Pokemon that's hurt by Fighting types like Scraggy for extra fun!

The rest of the moves are standard because they're good goddammit.
 

Simbo

Own a doghouse?
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Iron Head

Dual dance pawniard can be surprisingly decent with some team support. With evio and the normal amount of bulk invested into bulky pawn, it can set up either an rp or sd reasonably well on a decent chunk of the meta. Since lc is offense based, it's unlikely that you'll be able to set up both but the beauty in this set lies in the fact that you can choose to be either a wallbreaker or cleaner depending on the set-up of the opposing team. You can set up sd against bulkier slower teams and wallbreak for teammates or rp against offense or ho, reach 30 speed, and make major dents in opposing teams with two strong stab attacks. Iron head also has 30 flinch which, when combined with 30 speed, can change games if you get the hax. +2 iron head unfortunately only does around 75 to bulky foos but with hazards/ko support/chip and flinch chance, its still dangerous.
This pawn is also super anti-webs, even moreso than standard pawn. Against webs teams that rely on mienfoo or non-prio fighting types to deal with +2 pawn, if u can get a rp off on an expected switch, +1 speed +2 attack is super dangerous for webs to deal with.
The lack of sucker is annoying so you could replace one of the setup moves with sucker depending on what you want pawn to do but, overall, this set is pretty cool.
 

Fille

Afk
is a Pre-Contributor
LCPL Champion
We'll make this pretty simple to be honest.

Abra worked, because the fucker got a rather diverse movepool with many solid moves as options. Felines' examples from OU previous gens were Gengar and Lucario, both also boasting a rather diverse movepool with several different useful options. Pawniard does NOT. Anything not utilising Knock Off and Iron Head (And Sucker Punch if not a scarfed, but I can understand if you by any chance don't want this one) is essentially a gimmick, and what are the other viable options? Brick Break, Swords Dance, Pursuit, Stealth Rocks and Thunder Wave, with small niche moves as Magnet Rise, Substitute, Taunt and Rock Polish at it's disposal (And I guess Snatch???). That's it. By all means, that is not bad, but we've already tried utilising almost every single combination of these moves. AVS set works well against RestTalk Mudbrays, Simbos set can set up whichever stat based on Opps team, Cofaiclus' set got immense power, gummys set is cool ig (Didn't know people still ran sub on Diglett considering it lives a Sucker Punch 93.75% of the time), and Merritt's set is by far the best lure, killing off the 2 single best counters on switch-in. Psychium Z lure is already a thing though, SD Pawn is already a thing, and while the Dual Polish/Dance is kinda neat, the only 2 sets I see actually being useful has already been around for awhile. I am also concerned with the amount of attention ground types has gotten, despite neither of them actually being Pawniard switch-ins, but just bad checks. Fighting types are really the only big issue, which is why I think Merritt's nomination is the only actual good one, along with Simbo's (No offense boys I enjoyed your ideas). Pawniard just doesn't have the diversity in it's movepool for something new and innovative. With this in mind, I'll just raise this option:


INNOVATIVE (Pawniard) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave / Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

Takes about 2 switch-ins to beat Timburr/Slowfoo, and 3 for Fastfoo.
Simple standard Pawn, except you Knock on the first switch-in instead of the optional Stealth Rocks. On second switch-in, you Thunder Wave, hence slowing the FastFoo (If that is their mon). If you are certain they have Slowfoo, Timburr, Scraggy, Croagunk or Pancham, then you SD on this turn. Iron Head will kill after Eviolite has been knocked + Knock Off chip. Pawniard should be bulky enough to tank non-SE hits from almost anything faster, but I guess running a 14spdef 14speed or more hp > speed is just as viable, haven't tested this yet. Alternatively, if Diglett is a bitch and Fastfoo isn't, Sucker Punch is obviously good lol.

Timburr
156 Atk Pawniard Knock Off vs. 0 HP / 156 Def Timburr: 4-6 (16.6 - 25%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO
Possible damage amounts: (4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6)

+2 156 Atk Pawniard Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 156 Def Timburr: 21-25 (87.5 - 104.1%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
Possible damage amounts: (21, 21, 21, 21, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22, 24, 24, 24, 24, 24, 25)

116 Atk Timburr Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 36 Def Eviolite Pawniard: 16-24 (76.1 - 114.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
Possible damage amounts: (16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 24)
If you want to tank 18atk Iron Fist Mach Punches, then 16 defense (Aka 196 investement) is needed. Worth?

Mienfoo
Since Regen, Knock Chip won't matter.
+2 156 Atk Pawniard Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 196 Def Mienfoo: 21-25 (100 - 119%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Possible damage amounts: (21, 21, 21, 21, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22, 24, 24, 24, 24, 24, 25)

If 23 Hp Foo, chip is needed, or more attack.
156 Atk Pawniard Iron Head vs. 156 HP / 196 Def Mienfoo: 10-13 (43.4 - 56.5%) -- 59.4% chance to 2HKO
Possible damage amounts: (10, 10, 10, 10, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 13)

+2 236 Atk Pawniard Iron Head vs. 156 HP / 196 Def Mienfoo: 22-27 (95.6 - 117.3%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
Possible damage amounts: (22, 22, 22, 22, 24, 24, 24, 24, 24, 24, 25, 25, 25, 25, 25, 27)

+2 236+ Atk Pawniard Iron Head vs. 156 HP / 196 Def Mienfoo: 24-28 (104.3 - 121.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Possible damage amounts: (24, 24, 24, 24, 24, 25, 25, 25, 25, 25, 27, 27, 27, 27, 27, 28)

Croagunk
156 Atk Pawniard Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 52 HP / 116 Def Eviolite Croagunk: 5-6 (22.7 - 27.2%) -- 94.9% chance to 4HKO
Possible damage amounts: (5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6)

156 Atk Pawniard Iron Head vs. 52 HP / 116 Def Eviolite Croagunk: 9-12 (40.9 - 54.5%) -- 9.8% chance to 2HKO
Possible damage amounts: (9, 9, 9, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 12)

+2 156 Atk Pawniard Iron Head vs. 52 HP / 116 Def Eviolite Croagunk: 16-21 (72.7 - 95.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Possible damage amounts: (16, 18, 18, 18, 18, 18, 18, 18, 19, 19, 19, 19, 19, 19, 19, 21)

+2 156 Atk Pawniard Iron Head vs. 52 HP / 116 Def Croagunk: 25-30 (113.6 - 136.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Possible damage amounts: (25, 25, 25, 25, 25, 27, 27, 27, 27, 27, 28, 28, 28, 28, 28, 30)

188+ SpA Croagunk Vacuum Wave vs. 0 HP / 116 SpD Eviolite Pawniard: 16-24 (76.1 - 114.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
Possible damage amounts: (16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 24)

Scraggy
+2 156 Atk Pawniard Iron Head vs. 36 HP / 36 Def Scraggy: 21-25 (95.4 - 113.6%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
Possible damage amounts: (21, 21, 21, 21, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22, 24, 24, 24, 24, 24, 25)

Pancham
+2 156 Atk Pawniard Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 100 Def Pancham: 21-25 (91.3 - 108.6%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
Possible damage amounts: (21, 21, 21, 21, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22, 24, 24, 24, 24, 24, 25)


I hope the next mon nominated will actually have the movepool or abilities to actually do something new.

EDIT: I was being way to harsh while writing this, it was not intended to be as direct as it seems.​
 
Last edited:

twinkay

these bugs love all the sugar in my blood
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Vote!

Thanks everyone for submitting! Anyway I guess I'll respond to Fille too while i'm at it. Yeah a couple of days after i announced Pawniard I had already realized that it's p hard to submit for it considering it basically requires Knock / Iron Head / Sucker to be considered effective. However my thought process at the time was to focus less on movepool innovation and instead on other aspects. Easier said than done i guess. Hopefully my next nomination will be easier to build for!
 

Fille

Afk
is a Pre-Contributor
LCPL Champion
Vote!

Thanks everyone for submitting! Anyway I guess I'll respond to Fille too while i'm at it. Yeah a couple of days after i announced Pawniard I had already realized that it's p hard to submit for it considering it basically requires Knock / Iron Head / Sucker to be considered effective. However my thought process at the time was to focus less on movepool innovation and instead on other aspects. Easier said than done i guess. Hopefully my next nomination will be easier to build for!
Yeah I was too harsh on you either way, Sorry about that fam. Either way, we got way better results than I first expected when seeing Pawn as nom, so even that just contradicts my earlier statement.

My Vote goes to Merritt
 

twinkay

these bugs love all the sugar in my blood
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
The winner is Merritt ! Congratulations!

I might edit with voting results later but i'm tired and literally everyone voted for Merritt but Merritt.

------------------

So our next poke is Gastly! Just a week and two days late for Halloween!

 
Gastly @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 36 Def / 196 SpA / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Reflect Type
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam

Here we see a typical LO Gastly. However, this Gastly is resistant to being Pursuit trapped as it can Reflect Type on an Alolan Grimer or Pawniard. Rest of the set is pretty standard, but looking as Gastly's movepool it's pretty similar to Abra's so I wanted to go with something somewhat unique. The rest of the set is fairly customizable, as you could use the Twinkle Tackle set as well if you wanted. Reflect Type also makes Sucker Punch from Pawniard resisted which is cool. HP Fighting is another option over Dazzling Gleam but that's more of a general Gastly thing instead of something unique to my set. Set would probably best be used on teams that can't afford to lose Gastly to Pursuit trappers.
 
Gastly @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Endure
- Spite
- Shadow Ball
- Toxic

I just thought of this in my head. And I think it works really well! If you don't know what Z-Spite does it restores the HP Of this Pokemon. So basically the plan is when it is about to get a 2HKO Or OHKO It can use Endure and then after that it uses Z-Spite which is very useful. And for the other moves. Shadow Ball for STAB. And toxic because just in case if it's a 2HKO It can toxic the opposing mon.
 
Darkrai (Gastly) @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 40 Def / 200 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Hypnosis
- Nightmare
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Hex

Basic idea of this set is to Hypnosis something that switches into Gastly and then get +1 special attack with Z-Nightmare, which lets you maintain offensive pressure and set up at the same time, provided Hypnosis actually hits. Z-Hex is also 160 bp, so if you don't want to risk a Hypnosis you can still do something to the opponent. Once the other mon is asleep and you set up a Z-Nightmare, you can hit hard with Hex. HP Fighting is also there for perfect neutral coverage for everything in the tier. Quick things to note are that Hypnosis can get around Sucker Punch, and Hex lets you get around Chespin's Bulletproof.

+1 196 SpA Gastly Hex (130 BP) vs. 68 HP / 60 SpD Eviolite Lileep: 16-21 (66.6 - 87.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 196 SpA Gastly Hex (130 BP) vs. 0 HP / 196 SpD Eviolite Mienfoo: 18-22 (85.7 - 104.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 196 SpA Gastly Hex (130 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Timburr: 25-31 (104.1 - 129.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 196 SpA Gastly Hidden Power Fighting vs. 0 HP / 116 SpD Eviolite Pawniard: 28-36 (133.3 - 171.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 196 SpA Gastly Hex (130 BP) vs. 52 HP / 116 SpD Eviolite Croagunk: 22-27 (100 - 122.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
196+ Atk Life Orb Carvanha Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 116 Def Gastly: 9-13 (47.3 - 68.4%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO
196+ Atk Adaptability Corphish Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 116 Def Gastly: 10-14 (52.6 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
 

fran17

(1999)
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
@ Berry Juice
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 116 Def / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Substitute
- Infestation

this is something actually interesting i've already tried, it worked pretty well but you have to get the right plays with sub and infestation to actually trap something
 

Merritt

no comment
is a Tournament Directoris a Site Content Manageris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Dedicated Tournament Host
Head TD
fran

If you haven't picked the next one already I'd like to suggest Elekid or Slowpoke, since both have that viability factor but aren't overly established in moves they need.
 

twinkay

these bugs love all the sugar in my blood
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Looks like fran17 is our winner! Congratulations!

Sorry for the poor quality guys, I'm on mobile. I'm going to try to do a major update in about a week or so.

- - - - -

As Merritt suggested, our next Pokemon will be Slowpoke! Voting will (hopefully) start the 27th!
 

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