Intro
Well I've been around the Little Cup scene for about a year and a half now and I don't think I ever made it to the #1 rank, so I decided to finally make a team to ladder up and finally prove to myself that I could do it. I started with a new account nicknamed: Dune.
I stopped laddering at 1544. I'm not sure if I'll go further.
The Team at a Glance
Team Building Process
Most of the credit should go to Lord Liam because he used the same core but different moves sets on a few pokes. My understanding when he made the team was to “spam priority” as he put it in his words. I loved that concept so I kept most of the priority users and tinkered with some of the sets (mainly Gligar and Bronzor). Originally he had a Meowth, which is a spectacular lead, but I felt that it didn’t fit very well with the team. So the first thing I focused on was adding a Stealth Rock Lead to the team since it helped a lot due to the many switches that some of the Pokes create. I tested a bunch of things (Kabuto, Onix, Chimchar) I eventually settled on Bronzor for its bulk and synergy with the rest of the team. The next part was finding a Scarfer that fit well with Bronzor as the lead spot and also protected Gligar from Snovers. Obviously Houndour fit in perfectly. After that I looked around at Pokes that could give me trouble and found that Scarf Machops were quiet the nuisance and that I usually had to play around them which I hate a lot of the time so I decided that I needed a Ghost. After that, Liam was running a SD Gligar set, which I found underwhelming to say the least. So I changed the set on a complete test to the 4 attacking LO and had amazing results so that stuck. After that, everything was standard and worked well so Dratini and Croagunk made the cut. You may also notice that I only have 1 setup poke in Dratini and even rarely do I get the change to set him up. This team is all about constant pressure on the opposing team and making sure you a) Don't set up b) Even you manage to get off an agility or DD or NP, I have so much priority that you will never be able to sweep me so that I can wear you down through Gligar and priority.
The Team
The Little Engine that Could
Bronzor @ Oran Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 220 HP/8 Atk/152 Def/4 SAtk/68 SDef
Sassy nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Psychic
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]
My standard Stealth Rock layer for the team. Just as SR is important in OU, it may be doubly important in LC since chipping off 12% from sweepers limits how many times they can come in and makes it easier for my sweepers for safer KOs on Bulkier Pokes. The EVs are fairly standard though I find that most leads are Atk based so I may change the nature. It is easily the most bulky LC poke both in terms of stats, but also its great typing. The only thing that I’ve changed on the set is HP Ice. This is my secondary Gligar check should my own Gligar die. It tanks and is generally a nuisance for many teams that aren’t prepared for it.
Dune
Gligar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 236 Atk/236 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Aqua Tail
- Earthquake
- Night Slash
- Stone Edge
My mid-game sweeper. Boy does thing rip holes in teams. I went for a 4 move attacking on the recommendation from Vader and I can’t imagine using anything else. Amazing resistances, combined with an amazing move pool and reaching the 19 speed mark, you are in deep trouble if you lack a Snover or tons of priority because this will screw you up instantly. The other thing I like about this set is that it basically has a move for each of its counters and without set up moves, I’m always on the offense and not being constantly forced out because of bad prediction. The last thing I like about the set is that LO is incredible helpful for ensuring KOs on stuff like Duskull and Paras. I’ve swept a good many teams with him before.
Horn Frog
Croagunk (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 188 Atk/116 Spd/188 SAtk
IVs: 0 HP
Lonely nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch
- Vacuum Wave
- Ice Punch
Standard Croagunk. Nothing special. I’m a big fan of priority. It stops a lot teams, the most fearful being Rain Dance teams which I have to be carefully play around. This guy gets so many free switches due to Dry Skin mostly aimed at Gligar and Houndour. Not to mention that he creates a ton of switches on his own. I run Ice Punch over Dark Pulse because I really don’t care about Wynaunt very much, but I do care about Dratinis and Gligars setting up on me. He is a solid team player, but is mostly just there for revenging stuff and putting up quick damage for the other sweepers.
Eragon
Dratini (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 28 HP/244 Atk/196 Spd/36 SDef
IVs: 0 HP
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Extremespeed
- Waterfall
Standard Dratini. This thing has become quiet popular lately. I really only use him for his insanely boosted Extremespeeds. The only times I’m using Outrage and Waterfall is for when tanks like Duskull, Bronzor, or Aron come in expecting to take the Extremespeeds. Again, he is helpful for forcing switches and racking up SR damage.
Lil Bow WoW
Houndour (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 240 Spd/200 SAtk/40 SDef
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
The Scarf. I know Elevator Music hates Scarf pokemon and I do too for the most part, but this is one of the few pokes that I’ve found becomes an absolutely monster when you throw a scarf on him. No longer do you have to fear being outrun by the silly Gligars or Ponytas that come in. Overheat is usually my choice scout move, but sometimes I opted for Dark Pulse to catch other Houndours coming in for Flash Fire boosts. He is also nice end game when you’ve removed most priority. He has deals with Snovers and other Houndours quite nicely if you can predict correctly. Houndour comes in to absorb ice attacks for Gligar as often as possibly however he often gets worn down by SR so I have to be careful about bringing him.
Ghost Hunter
Gastly (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 36 HP/200 Spd/200 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Thunderbolt
Sub Gastly. With the banning of Misdreavus, the void of ghosts needed to be quickly filled due to the danger that lies in Scarf Machops and the like. Only two ghosts stood out to me (Gastly and Drifloon) that would keep the offensive flow for the team. I choose Gastly due to its higher speed and the fact that I didn’t need to set it up exactly and could just hammer away the moment it came in. Combine that with the fact that if you mispredict a Sucker Punch or come in on a Dratini’s Extremespeed or Outrage, you are most likely losing a poke no matter what. The only poke that really gives me problems is Munchlax and even then I don’t even care. I also like her to take Fake Outs because that can often wear me down due to my use of LO and SR weaks. The only reason I'm running T-Bolt on Gastly is because I hate when Tailows come in for free or Mantykes that think they can set up on me. I might try Explosion some time though.
Rate it or Hate it!
Well I've been around the Little Cup scene for about a year and a half now and I don't think I ever made it to the #1 rank, so I decided to finally make a team to ladder up and finally prove to myself that I could do it. I started with a new account nicknamed: Dune.
I stopped laddering at 1544. I'm not sure if I'll go further.
The Team at a Glance
Team Building Process
Most of the credit should go to Lord Liam because he used the same core but different moves sets on a few pokes. My understanding when he made the team was to “spam priority” as he put it in his words. I loved that concept so I kept most of the priority users and tinkered with some of the sets (mainly Gligar and Bronzor). Originally he had a Meowth, which is a spectacular lead, but I felt that it didn’t fit very well with the team. So the first thing I focused on was adding a Stealth Rock Lead to the team since it helped a lot due to the many switches that some of the Pokes create. I tested a bunch of things (Kabuto, Onix, Chimchar) I eventually settled on Bronzor for its bulk and synergy with the rest of the team. The next part was finding a Scarfer that fit well with Bronzor as the lead spot and also protected Gligar from Snovers. Obviously Houndour fit in perfectly. After that I looked around at Pokes that could give me trouble and found that Scarf Machops were quiet the nuisance and that I usually had to play around them which I hate a lot of the time so I decided that I needed a Ghost. After that, Liam was running a SD Gligar set, which I found underwhelming to say the least. So I changed the set on a complete test to the 4 attacking LO and had amazing results so that stuck. After that, everything was standard and worked well so Dratini and Croagunk made the cut. You may also notice that I only have 1 setup poke in Dratini and even rarely do I get the change to set him up. This team is all about constant pressure on the opposing team and making sure you a) Don't set up b) Even you manage to get off an agility or DD or NP, I have so much priority that you will never be able to sweep me so that I can wear you down through Gligar and priority.
The Team
The Little Engine that Could
Bronzor @ Oran Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 220 HP/8 Atk/152 Def/4 SAtk/68 SDef
Sassy nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Psychic
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]
My standard Stealth Rock layer for the team. Just as SR is important in OU, it may be doubly important in LC since chipping off 12% from sweepers limits how many times they can come in and makes it easier for my sweepers for safer KOs on Bulkier Pokes. The EVs are fairly standard though I find that most leads are Atk based so I may change the nature. It is easily the most bulky LC poke both in terms of stats, but also its great typing. The only thing that I’ve changed on the set is HP Ice. This is my secondary Gligar check should my own Gligar die. It tanks and is generally a nuisance for many teams that aren’t prepared for it.
Dune
Gligar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 236 Atk/236 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Aqua Tail
- Earthquake
- Night Slash
- Stone Edge
My mid-game sweeper. Boy does thing rip holes in teams. I went for a 4 move attacking on the recommendation from Vader and I can’t imagine using anything else. Amazing resistances, combined with an amazing move pool and reaching the 19 speed mark, you are in deep trouble if you lack a Snover or tons of priority because this will screw you up instantly. The other thing I like about this set is that it basically has a move for each of its counters and without set up moves, I’m always on the offense and not being constantly forced out because of bad prediction. The last thing I like about the set is that LO is incredible helpful for ensuring KOs on stuff like Duskull and Paras. I’ve swept a good many teams with him before.
Horn Frog
Croagunk (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 188 Atk/116 Spd/188 SAtk
IVs: 0 HP
Lonely nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch
- Vacuum Wave
- Ice Punch
Standard Croagunk. Nothing special. I’m a big fan of priority. It stops a lot teams, the most fearful being Rain Dance teams which I have to be carefully play around. This guy gets so many free switches due to Dry Skin mostly aimed at Gligar and Houndour. Not to mention that he creates a ton of switches on his own. I run Ice Punch over Dark Pulse because I really don’t care about Wynaunt very much, but I do care about Dratinis and Gligars setting up on me. He is a solid team player, but is mostly just there for revenging stuff and putting up quick damage for the other sweepers.
Eragon
Dratini (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 28 HP/244 Atk/196 Spd/36 SDef
IVs: 0 HP
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Extremespeed
- Waterfall
Standard Dratini. This thing has become quiet popular lately. I really only use him for his insanely boosted Extremespeeds. The only times I’m using Outrage and Waterfall is for when tanks like Duskull, Bronzor, or Aron come in expecting to take the Extremespeeds. Again, he is helpful for forcing switches and racking up SR damage.
Lil Bow WoW
Houndour (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 240 Spd/200 SAtk/40 SDef
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
The Scarf. I know Elevator Music hates Scarf pokemon and I do too for the most part, but this is one of the few pokes that I’ve found becomes an absolutely monster when you throw a scarf on him. No longer do you have to fear being outrun by the silly Gligars or Ponytas that come in. Overheat is usually my choice scout move, but sometimes I opted for Dark Pulse to catch other Houndours coming in for Flash Fire boosts. He is also nice end game when you’ve removed most priority. He has deals with Snovers and other Houndours quite nicely if you can predict correctly. Houndour comes in to absorb ice attacks for Gligar as often as possibly however he often gets worn down by SR so I have to be careful about bringing him.
Ghost Hunter
Gastly (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 36 HP/200 Spd/200 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Thunderbolt
Sub Gastly. With the banning of Misdreavus, the void of ghosts needed to be quickly filled due to the danger that lies in Scarf Machops and the like. Only two ghosts stood out to me (Gastly and Drifloon) that would keep the offensive flow for the team. I choose Gastly due to its higher speed and the fact that I didn’t need to set it up exactly and could just hammer away the moment it came in. Combine that with the fact that if you mispredict a Sucker Punch or come in on a Dratini’s Extremespeed or Outrage, you are most likely losing a poke no matter what. The only poke that really gives me problems is Munchlax and even then I don’t even care. I also like her to take Fake Outs because that can often wear me down due to my use of LO and SR weaks. The only reason I'm running T-Bolt on Gastly is because I hate when Tailows come in for free or Mantykes that think they can set up on me. I might try Explosion some time though.
Rate it or Hate it!
